Okage Hearts
by Christopher Scott
Summary: A crossover of sorts. Ari's adventures begin when he gets a giant key, and actually gets in motion when he is made a servant of Evil King Stan. Please read and review. truly, Christopher Scott: A Gentleman Thief
1. Chapter 1

Okage Hearts

Chapter 1

Odd idea, but this idea came to me when I was tired, and I decided to go with it. I don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts.

Ari was a quiet boy in the village of Tenel. He was so quiet, in fact, that he was constantly ignored by everyone, even his family. This day, like many others, had him wake up in the morning and find that everyone had already started their day without bothering to wake him. When he got to the kitchen, he saw a bottle in the middle of the table.

"What's the bottle for, Mom?" he asked quietly, his green eyes focusing on the bottle. It was black with yellow markings on the rim and a red seal on the front of the bottle in the shape of a heart with thorns forming an X across it.

His mother didn't respond, evidently having not heard him. Suddenly, Ari's younger sister Annie, in all her yellow-dressed "glory" burst into the room, like an avalanche of sound.

"Morning, Ari!" she shouted, showing that her voice had probably consumed Ari's louder tones of voice long ago.

"Good Morning, Annie," he responded, looking carefully at her. She had one of her planning faces. That was not good.

"Ari!" his mother suddenly said in surprise, "I didn't even hear you come downstairs."

"I'd just come down right before Annie came in," he lied. At this point it was easier for everybody when he lied about things like that. Otherwise he would get some sort of speech about how he should speak louder, and how he should be more assertive like Annie. Then, remembering that he had a question, he again asked, "What's in the bottle?"

"Oh, that?" his mother responded, "I don't know. It's one of your father's latest things. It can't open, though. Anyway, since you're here, Annie, why don't you go get the bread for tonight's dinner?"

"But Ari said he wanted to go to town today," Annie said, lying through her teeth. That explained the planning face, at least.

"No, I…" he began before being cut off by his mother.

"Oh, thank you Ari. Here's the money to pay for the bread," she said, handing some money to him and shoving him out the door.

Ari stood outside of the house for a few moments, letting exactly what happened to him sink in. Annie had made him go do her errand. His mother let her. There was a weird jar that his father brought home with him. He hadn't seen his grandparents at all.

"Well," he said to himself, as he put the coins in his pockets, "There goes my plans of relaxing today. I suppose I can wander before getting the bread."

* * *

><p>He walked around quite a bit, enjoying the cool spring air, until he came across a tent that wasn't there before. It was a circus tent, red and white striped and large enough to hold the whole village and then some. Standing outside of the tent was a portly man in a black hat and a polka-dot vest. As Ari drew near, the man suddenly stood upright, and an oddly creepy grin spread across his face. Ari got only slightly closer, not wanting to get close to a man with a big mustache that had a grin that screamed things that were best left unscreamed.<p>

"Oh, hello, lad," the man said in a booming voice, "Are you here for the show?"

"What show?" Ari asked cautiously.

"Why the circus, of course!" the man said, "I am the Ringmaster of this Circus, and I'm here to entertain your village tomorrow evening!"

"That's interesting…" Ari said noncommittally.

"My word!" the Ringmaster suddenly shouted, "You're horribly overshadowed, lad. Everyone has darkness, but you shouldn't have one that much more than you."

"More what?" Ari asked, confused by that statement.

"Just…more!" the Ringmaster shouted in frustration, causing Ari to step back a bit. Then, calming down, the Ringmaster pulled a trunk seemingly out of nowhere and said, "Still, I see there is quite a bit of light in you. So, since that might be good enough, I think the time is right. I found this on my travels, but only someone who's worthy can use it. Everyone else who's tried winds up with it back in this trunk. Still, maybe you're different. I feel like you are…"

Opening the trunk, the Ringmaster dug through it and then pulled out a rather large item wrapped in a light grey cloth. Handing the bundle to Ari, he whispered, "Alright, lad, try it. Go ahead."

Ari began to unwind the cord of the bundle carefully, until he saw part of it. The part he saw seemed to be a thick grey metal rod, but as he unwound more, he saw that it was a large key, with a yellow end with a chain on the end of that, which, in addition to the piece in the middle of the base of the key, made it look like a bizarre attempt at making a sword.

Ari hesitantly reached out to grab the "hilt", for lack of a better word. Expecting it to be heavy, he was surprised to find that it was rather light, and seemed to fit his hand as if it was made for him.

"It hasn't left you…" the Ringmaster noted, "Normally, by now, it would have returned to the box. It only let me wrap it when I don't touch it at all. Now, remember, lad, Darkness is evil, but the world needs it to exist. If there's no darkness, the universe wouldn't function properly, but if there's too much, then bad things happen. Whatever you do, don't destroy all evil. Keep the Key. I think it's been waiting for you."

"Okay…" Ari responded, and bid the Ringmaster farewell.

"Also, remember to tell your friends the Circus is coming soon!" the Ringmaster shouted, suddenly going back to his showman voice.

"Yes, sir," Ari responded as he turned to leave. Deciding that he had wasted enough time, he headed back to town holding his newfound treasure in his hand as he walked.

Little did he know, his life was going to change rather soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Okage Hearts

Chapter 2

Nope. Still own nothing. Blast! And I thought for sure sending the fruit basket would help. Also, in my story, I will be having Julia less… Well, you'll see. Oh, and I didn't really have a reason for giving the bottle the name I did. It just happened

Entering the town, Ari saw his friend and crush Julia standing by the gate, facing the opposite direction.

"Hey, Julia," he said in his usual quiet way. As with everyone else, she didn't notice him, despite the fact that she was standing there doing absolutely nothing, so he tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jump into the air in surprise.

"Ari! You scared me!" she said, playfully glaring at the boy before a cheerful smile came across her face as she said, "So, what's new?"

"Well, I'm out here getting bread since my sister tricked my mom into giving me her chore, then I ran into a Ringmaster, oh, yeah, the circus is going to be performing tomorrow, who gave me a giant key with a sword hilt, which is what I'm holding right now. than that, I suppose things are going well. What about you?" he responded, wondering whether she had even heard him.

"I'm fine," she responded, "I haven't really done anything important today, though. I've really just been hanging out here. So, what does the giant key do? Wait. The circus is in town? I've got to tell everybody!"

With that, the boy's friend ran off, forgetting all about the key, leaving Ari alone to go get the bread.

As he entered the bakery, the baker smiled and said, "Hello, Ari. I take it your mother sent you for the bread."

"Yes, ma'am," Ari responded. The baker was a nice woman. She would always listen to Ari, and would just tell him to speak up rather than change his entire personality.

"Here you go," the baker said, handing him the bread, "So, I heard there's a circus in town tomorrow. Are you going to ask Julia to go with you?"

"…" he replied, struck speechless. He couldn't think of a single way to respond to that.

"Ah, why don't you go try?" the baker asked, "You never know; she might say yes. Well, go on. Say hi to the family for me."

"I will ma'am."

With that, the boy walked off, planning to ask his friend to go with him to the circus. And what luck! There she was, right at the gates of the village again.

"Um, Julia…" he said, trying to get her attention.

"Yes, Ari?" she asked, turning to face him, an act so rare from pretty much everyone that it surprised him. Eventually, he regained his wits to ask her, "W-would you like to go to the circus with me tomorrow."

When she heard this, her face softened, taking on an apologetic appearance, which did not bode well. Then, she gently said, "I'm so sorry, Ari. Someone else already asked me, and I accepted. Maybe next time…?"

"Uh, sure," he said, trying to sound rather nonchalant about the entire situation, even though he was very disappointed, "Well, I've got to get going."

"Okay," she responded hesitantly, "Goodnight Ari."

"Goodnight, Julia," he replied as he walked out of the village gates to get home before it got dark.

* * *

><p>Ari got home on time, ate his dinner, and went to bed. He really hadn't expected her to say yes, but it still hurt. Still, it could have been worse. She could have laughed at him or even said no in a rude way.<p>

The next morning came. He was bored, and didn't really have anything to do. Maybe he could go around with the key and see just what he could do with it. He reached for it, only for Annie to walk in and grab it, asking, "What does this do?"

Suddenly, as Annie began to leave the room to see what this new thing did, the key vanished from her hands and appeared into Ari's hands.

"Well, I suppose it comes when I want it," he said, giving Annie a completely blank expression on his face.

Much to Ari's pleasure, Annie hurried out of the room, trying to put as much distance between herself and the weird key as possible. Ari smiled to himself. It scared away Annie. He liked this key already.

* * *

><p>Ari wandered around, dragging his key behind him as he walked. So far, all it did was return to his hand when he left it alone for too long, but he was sure that it did something else. What magic key did only one thing that didn't even involve it's key shape…?<p>

"That's it," he whispered, realizing what the key might be able to be used for. He just needed to find a keyhole, preferably not to a person's door, or to something that someone else owned. Eventually, the boy came across a chest covered with dust. Pointing his key at it, he said "Open."

To his surprise, that trick actually worked, as the key sent a beam of light out of its tip. The beam went into the keyhole, and Ari heard the telltale click of a lock opening inside the chest. Opening the chest, Ari found a note, which only said the word "Keyblade." Looking at the key in his hand, Ari realized that the key must be this Keyblade that the note mentioned, as he doubted that there could be anything that could possibly be described as a Keyblade.

Pleased that his key had a name and a function, he began to make his way home. On the way, he saw Julia headed to get an early glimpse of the circus. She flashed him a friendly smile, which he returned with a wave, and they both continued on their ways.

When Ari got home, he found his father was polishing the black bottle, trying to read some inscription on the bottom. When Ari got close, his father noticed him and said, "Son, how would you like to hear what I think this bottle is?"

"Um, I was kind of planning to go the circus," Ari responded, knowing that if his father started now, he would not finish for a long time.

"Great!" his father said, clearly not listening to him, "Now, I believe that this is Ansem's Bottle. You see, Ansem the wise was a brilliant sorcerer who was also a king for a long time who…"

* * *

><p>And so the speech went on for a very long time, throughout which Ari kept feeling worried, since the circus would only be open for a set amount of time. Eventually his father said, "And that is it, in a nutshell. Do you understand?"<p>

"More than I thought I'd ever care to," Ari responded not quite sure if that would ever be important.

"That's great!" his father exclaimed, "I'm so glad we could have this talk. Well, why don't you go to the circus, now?"

Once those words were uttered, Ari was out the door, rushing to the circus. Eventually he got there, only to see that everybody was already leaving the tent. Then, Ari saw Julia walking out with the guy she promised to go with.

"Oh, Ari, you should have been here!" she said cheerily, "It was a beautiful sight. There were lions, tigers, jugglers, trapeze artists…!"

"I wish I'd been able to see it," he responded blankly, "It sounds like it was fun."

"You are definitely going to the next one though," she told him.

"Okay, bye, you two," he responded. He still needed to find Annie, who had escaped their father's lecture and went to the circus. Suddenly, he heard a loud scream. It was Annie.

Running, he found a small black thing with golden eyes attempt to attack her, but was beaten to the punch by a ghost. When Annie passed out, the shadow creature ran away, as if it sensed something wrong. Ari ran to his sister's side and lifted up her unconscious form, carrying her to the house, where he explained everything to his parents and grandparents.

Once Annie was in her room, everybody sat down and waited for he to get up. There wasn't really anything else they could do for now.

* * *

><p>When she got up she looked around and, seeing everybody in her room looking relieved to see her wake up she opened her mouth and asked, "At-whay are-yay ou-yay oing-day in-yay y-may oom-ray? Ah-yay! Y-whay am-yay I-yay alking-tay ike-lay is-thay?"<p>

Everyone paused, and stared at her in surprise.

"Oh, no!" their mom shouted, "She's got the Pig Latin Curse!"

"How can we deal with this?" their Grandfather asked.

"I'm-yay ared-scay!" Annie shouted.

"I have an idea," Ari's father said. "Ansem was a wise man and a sorcerer. Maybe he can help her! We need to open the bottle. Okay, everybody, let's go downstairs in order to do the spell that a book I have says is needed to open the bottle."

"Um, I'm not sure this is such a good idea…" Ari said, getting concerned with how easily the idea came up. Despite the fact that he had said this a bit louder than usual, still nobody listened to him. As such, he followed the rest downstairs leaving the key with Annie.

* * *

><p>Ari's father had set up a circle in the middle of the living room, surrounded by candles with the bottle in the center. He said the spell exactly as the book ordered it to be said, and sure enough, the bottle opened, revealing… a horned humanoid ghost that was very well dressed? Whoever he was, Ari was certain that he wasn't this Ansem.<p>

"Hello," he smiled, or at least he would have if he had a visible mouth, "I am James, the butler of his Royal Highness, Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad the XIV, the reincarnation of Evil King Gohma. He will not be coming out yet, as he has no form to speak of at the moment, having been sealed in the bottle for so long now, causing him to lose a good deal of his power."

"Um, hello, James," Ari's father said, "We came seeking help. Our daughter is gravely ill, and she needs some help."

"I wouldn't call it a grave…" Ari began before he was cut off by a voice coming from the bottle.

"I will make you a deal," the voice shouted, "If one of you allows me to use your shadow for my form, I will help your daughter."

"Okay," Ari's father said.

"I'll try out," his mother said.

"So will I," his grandfather said.

"Uh huh, sure, yes," Ari's grandmother said.

"And what of the boy?" James asked, eying Ari curiously.

"I still don't think…" he began before his father volunteered him for the job, as well.

Two ghosts flew out of the jar and began examining the family, judging each of their shadows. Eventually they judged Ari.

"Oh," they murmured in their ghostly language, "This one is greatly overshadowed. He would be perfect."

Hearing them, James announced, "We have a winner! The winner of this contest is the boy! What's your name?"

"Ari," he responded, not liking the sound of this victory.

"Ari," he said, as if getting the feel of the name, "Fitting, very fitting."

Suddenly, a shadow rose out of the jar and moved into Ari's shadow.

"Ah, yes!" a voice behind him suddenly shouted, "I am free, again."

Ari turned around and saw that his shadow rose from the ground and looked like a flat version of that thing that attacked Annie. Suddenly, the Keyblade appeared in his hand.

"Slave! What is this?" the Evil King asked, "I am the king of shadows, yet my servant wields the Keyblade which serves the light?"

Suddenly, James stepped in, evidently not wanting to have anyone killed, and said, "Your Majesty, clearly the light is not moving against you if it allows its champion to serve you. Perhaps it sees you as a powerful ally to have?"

"I see," the Evil King said, "Very well. Now, we must begin our conquest of the world!"

"Now I know the universe hates me," Ari said flatly, "I get a key that evidently serves the light while my family sold me into slavery to a king who rules the dark. This'll be **fun**."

"Um, Evil King Stanley…" Ari's father began before the Evil King cut him off.

"Just Stan will do for the moment," Stan replied.

"Um, Evil King Stan, we made a deal…"

"That we did, and Evil Kings must always keep their promises," Stan replied, "Very well. Take me to her."

When Stan got up to Annie's room with the entire group, he waved his hand over her, and said "There. She's healed."

Annie then spoke again, ending the peace and quiet that Ari was already getting used to by shouting, "I can talk again!"

"That's too bad," Ari mumbled under his breath, unheard by even Stan, who was attached to him. Then, when Annie got up, to everybody's surprise her shadow was pink.

"What happened to my shadow?" she asked turning to face Stan.

"Well, when I used my magic on you, it left my mark on you, a pink shadow," Stan replied. Then, getting a bit defensive, he added "I promised to fix your voice, but I didn't say I wouldn't change your shadow's color."

Deciding that it was late and that nothing they said would persuade Stan to fix Annie's shadow, everyone decided to turn in for the night.


	3. Chapter 3

Okage Hearts

Chapter 3

I still don't own either game. I suppose that I will just have to learn to live with that clear fact. You'll now get to see what I meant when I said "I will be having Julia less… Well, you'll see".

Ari woke up the next morning. He felt rather refreshed. Noticing a lack of Evil Kings in his shadow, he headed out, planning on forgetting that rather odd dream he had.

_So,_ a voice from nowhere said, _you think it was just a dream?_

Ari was suddenly thrown back and turned to see his shadow turn into Evil King Stan.

"Oh," Ari said flatly, "I guess my parents really did basically sell me to you."

"Quit griping slave," Stan commanded, "We have a lot of work ahead of us. We need to strike fear into the hearts of the populace."

"Of course," Ari quipped, "So, what'll we do first? Will you be blocking out the sun from touching the heads of people who get close enough to me, or do I swing the Keyblade around like an idiot with a giant key?"

"…Enough chatter, slave!" Stan said, made unsure of what to do next, "Let's go to your village and begin spreading my reign of terror there."

"Sure, your flatness," Ari responded, smirking slightly at the shadow, "Let's go."

And so, the boy and his shadow began their sojourn to the village of Tenel. But, they were stopped by some children who were upset about something.

"What are you mortals crying for?" Stan asked, annoyed by the mild inconvenience.

"Hi, Ari," one of the kids said, "Nice shadow trick, but Mr. Tinkles is up in the tree."

Ari looked up. A cat was stuck up a tree. This was interesting. He had never believed that such a thing was possible before this moment. He would have to make a note of this later. At the moment, Stan was blabbering.

"Pathetic children!" Stan shouted, "That is a ridiculous reason to cry! I can get that infernal thing down. This is too simple a task."

As the Evil King said this, he stretched himself taller, until he was able to reach the cat. He then brought it down and handed it to the children, who cheered happily at the return of Mr. Tinkles.

"Thank you, Ari!" they shouted as they rushed back to town, clearly pleased with the change in situation.

'Well, that was interesting,' Ari thought as Stan babbled on about how he was the one who saved them. The other kids seemed to think he was controlling Stan and throwing his voice. This could provide amusement.

"Look at those fools fleeing in terror!" Stan cheered.

"Yeah, congratulations on the good deed," Ari said, "Very evil. I'm going to go talk to the Ringmaster of the Circus where I got the Keyblade, now."

"No, we will not, Slave," Stan said authoritatively. Ari then began to think. Traveling to the village would possibly put Stan in a good mood. If Stan was in a good mood, he might be quiet. If Stan was quiet, Ari would be able to ignore him better. Deciding to take the path of least resistance and most silence, he began to walk to the village. At the very least, he could complain to Julia about how his parents showed that Annie was their favorite.

* * *

><p>"…AND THEY SOLD YOU?" Julia screamed in shock.<p>

"Yep, just so Annie wouldn't be forced to speak Pig Latin for the rest of her life," he responded simply. Julia was angry enough for the both of them as it was, so he didn't want his rage fueling hers further.

"But, Pig Latin is easy to understand," Julia commented, "You'd think that it wouldn't be a problem.

"I tried to tell them that, but they wouldn't listen," he vented, "So, now, on top of having some sort of magic key that seems to open any door and supposedly serves 'the Light' I have an Evil King in my shadow."

"It could be worse?" Julia said trying to make him feel better.

"How so?" Ari asked, curious.

"…." she responded, "I'll get back to you on that."

"Julia, it's horrible!" a scared man shouted, Something terrible has happened! "

"Yes, people are afraid of me again!" Stan shouted, rising from the ground.

"What?" the scared man asked, turning to see Ari with Stan behind him.

"Oh, Ari, I didn't see you," he said, "Nice shadow trick, but now isn't the time for games. There's a ghost in the church! The church is locked up, but the water has stopped flowing."

"Oh, no!" Julia exclaimed, "I'll go tell everyone!"

"A ghost? Bah!" Stan sneered, "A lesser creature, nowhere near my might. But, if it is hogging the terror that they should be bestowing upon me, I will destroy it! Slave, come! We go now to fight for my honor! "

"One, problem, Your Majesty," Ari said mockingly polite, twirling the Keyblade by its chain, "The church is locked and…"

He paused, noticing that Stan was smiling at him. Ari thought for a moment, trying to think of why Stan would be smiling at him. He was only playing with his giant magic key. Wait. Looking at the Keyblade, he said, "I think I hate this thing at the moment."

* * *

><p>"Well," Ari said as he and Stan entered the church's basement, "This is one of the more interesting ways I've spent my mornings."<p>

Ignoring him, Stan said, "Now, Slave, let's go into the basement."

With that, the pair headed into the basement and came across a ghost. Ari raised the Keyblade.

"Let me talk to it, Slave," Stan said, "Hello, ghost. You will leave here! I am the true terror in this world, and you are just a mere ghost."

"Boo boo boo boo boo!" the ghost shouted. (The Keyblade! A shadow is working with the wielder of the Keyblade? I must destroy!)

With that, the ghost began to lunge for the pair.

"Well, that went well" Ari said sarcastically as he struck the ghost back, smacking it around as the fight continued.

"Be silent, Slave!" Stan shouted, "I will deal with this pathetic excuse of a creature of darkness."

With that, Stan unleashed a powerful blast upon the hapless ghost, killing it instantly.

"That didn't go too badly," Stan mumbled, a slight smirk on his face as they explored the basement.

"Hey," Ari said, looking inside a chest, "A gear."

"That thing over there is more interesting," Stan commented, pointing at a giant wheel in the middle of the room.

"Yeah, it is…" Ari said, getting closer to it, "How did we miss it as we walked into here? It must be the reason the water stopped. I'm going to open it back up."

Ari turned the wheel and was rewarded with a rumbling under the ground. He walked out, deciding that he must have fixed the problem.

When he and Stan got outside, they were blinded by the bright lights outside for a moment before their eyes adapted to the sunlight. There was a large crowd gathered outside the church cheering over the return of the water and the disposal of the ghost.

"Great job, Ari!" one person shouted, much to Stan's annoyance. It continued like that for a while.

* * *

><p>When the crowd had dispersed, Ari saw Julia looking at him, concern evident on her face.<p>

"What were you thinking?" she shouted, "You could have gotten yourself killed or had your heart stolen!"

"I…" he began before she cut him off again.

"I'll answer for you! You didn't think!"

"Julia, I'm…" he tried to apologize.

"Save it," she said softly, "If you want to go be a hero and die, I…I won't stop you. Just don't expect me to watch you get killed. I couldn't handle that. I'm sorry Ari. I…I'm just going to go."

She turned and fled, tears in her eyes as she headed home. As she left, Ari quietly muttered "Julia…"

He'd never been loud before, but he felt like shouting. He was screaming inside, but he remained as quiet as ever. Silence was too much a part of who he was.

"Come, Slave, we've lingered too long," Stan said simply, "We have more people to terrorize."


	4. Chapter 4

Okage Hearts

Chapter 4

I own neither of these works. I think. Yeah, let's go with that. Sorry to take so long. This took a while to finish. Thank you for the review anon.

Ari was dragging his feet as he walked. He still couldn't believe that Julia wasn't going to be with him anymore. She was the only person he could talk to other than the baker that would listen to him. He would never have as good a friend as her. How could he ever even stop thinking of this?

"Enough with this pity fest, Slave!" Stan shouted, giving him the answer to that mystery, "We still need to terrorize mortals!"

"Ari, it's terrible!" the Scared Man shouted, running up to the boy, causing another surprise for this day. Someone else saw him today. Odd.

"Calm down," Ari suggested in his usual quiet, flat voice, "What's wrong?"

"There are Evil Kings around!" the Scared Man screamed, "This is bad! This is very, very bad!"

"Yes! I am being Recognized once ag….." Stan cheered as he rose from behind Ari, before he paused and flatly demanded, "_**KINGS!**_ What do you mean Evil Kings! I, Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad the XIV am the _**ONLY**_ Evil King there is!"

"Sorry, Ari," the Scared Man said, "But things are so serious that even your shadow trick isn't funny enough to cheer me up. Some guy in the bar at the Inn is showing what he refers to as the Map O' Evil Kings. It turns out that there are a bunch of Evil Kings in the world."

"Did you hear that, Slave?" Stan asked, looking down at Ari, "Let's go!"

"Sure thing, Stan," Ari responded, walking away from the Scared Man, who had already lost interest in the boy and his shadow. A return to the norm.

As the pair continued on their way, Ari realized where he was going. He was headed to the Inn. Julia was the Innkeeper's daughter. Julia didn't want to see him at the moment. This would be **fun**.

* * *

><p>Much to his good fortune, Ari found that Julia wasn't there. Perhaps he could talk to her later. Maybe they could patch things up if they got the chance.<p>

"Slave," Stan said, "You're doing that weird mopey thing again. We have a task at hand. Go find the drunk who is besmirching the name of Evil King."

Pulled from his stupor, Ari began searching for the drunk, only to find that the Ringmaster who had given him the Keyblade was the only drunk in the bar, let alone the only one who was drinking in there at all.

"You!" Stan shouted, "Who are you to be claiming that there is more than one Evil King?"

"I was wondering when you'd show up, kid. Ah, a shadow Evil King," the Ringmaster said, smiling at the pair, "I see that I was right about you being overshadowed, kid. Well, here you go."

"What is this?" Stan asked as Ari accepted the sheet of paper.

"The Map O' Evil Kings, of course," The Ringmaster replied, "You're going to need it, after all."

"Thank you," Ari calmly whispered, still looking around for any sign of Julia. So far, he was in the clear.

"I'll be leaving soon," the Ringmaster commented, "See you around, kid."

* * *

><p>"Well, that went well," Stan said, as they walked out of the Inn, "We got the Map O' Evil Kings, and so we know where to find the frauds now. James!"<p>

Summoned, James appeared and asked, "What do you need, my lord? I was with Natasha… I mean serving your purposes from afar."

"I currently have a Map O' Evil Kings." Stan said in a deceptively calm, "What is the meaning of this?"

"Well, Sire," James responded carefully, "I believe that these fake Evil Kings probably took some of your vast power."

"Yes, of course!" Stan shouted, "If I defeat them, my power will probably return to me. Let's check the Map, Slave."

Ari unrolled the Map and read the only visible clue on it: "In the Sewers of Madril is the Sewer Evil King."

"Wow," he commented, "You'd think that whoever wrote this Map would have used riddles or something like that. I guess we'll need to go there if we're going to fight any Evil Kings…"

He paused, suddenly hearing a familiar feminine voice gasp. She probably heard at least

"You're leaving?" she asked. That could be good. Then again…

"I don't particularly have a choice," Ari said softly, pointing at Stan, who was still engaged in conversation with James, "King Chatty over there doesn't really take 'no' for an answer."

An unfamiliar silence came between the pair. It remained unbroken for over a minute before Julia broke it, softly saying, "Please promise me you'll be safe."

"Julia, I… I promise I'll come back as soon as I can," Ari said, hoping that that promise would suffice.

"Promise me you'll be safe," she pled, the concern in her gaze more noticeable, "Please Ari. Just promise me you'll be safe."

Ari hesitated before responding. It was a dangerous path that he was about to go down. He could be hurt or killed. Still, he never could tell her no, so he looked her in the eye and said, "I promise I'll try to be safe."

"I'll be waiting for you to come back," Julia said, "Good luck out there."

Suddenly, she wrapped her arms tightly around him. Surprised, he paused a moment before returning it.

"Slave!" Stan shouted, "Come! We must leave here now!"

"Actually," Julia commented, "It'd probably be best if he said goodbye to his family first. Even if they are jerks who sold him to you, they're still his family."

"Very well," Stan said, in a surprisingly calm tone of voice, "Slave, go tell your family farewell."

"Goodbye Ari," Julia softly waved, "Be back soon."

"Goodbye, Julia," Ari answered. He did still have a promise to keep to her, and he fully intended on keeping it.

* * *

><p>"Well," Ari commented, "I'm here to tell all of you goodbye until I need to come home again."<p>

"Good luck, Ari," Annie responded, "have fun out there."

Next, the boy went up to his Father, who said, "Son, I hope you get to have some grand adventures. Here, take this. It might help you. It's part of some mysterious machine, supposedly."

His Father then handed him a glass tube. Accepting it, Ari moved to his Mother next.

"I wish you luck out there, son," she said, "I remember when I had my own adventures when I was a child. I really want you to have a good time. Be safe. Here is a music box for you. You should give it to a special girl."

He took the music box from his mother, putting it in his jacket pocket, leaving no noticeable bulge in the coat. Continuing down the line, he walked up to his Grandfather, who merely said, "Good luck out there, Ari. Be careful out there."

Ending his farewells, he went to his Grandmother last. She turned to him, saying "Dear child, you're going down a brave road. Always keep your friends in mind and in heart. _**They**_ are where your true strength lies, nowhere else."

And so, with all of his goodbyes in order, Ari stepped out of the house, ready to begin what promised to be an interesting adventure.


	5. Chapter 5

Okage Hearts

Chapter 5

I still don't own the games. I suppose it's for the best. I need to have time to write fanfiction, after all.

Ari was walking through the woods, repeatedly getting harassed by ghosts who were defeated with relative ease. Eventually, he and Stan came across a bridge, where a ghost was waiting.

"Well," Ari said, "This is getting annoying. I mean, seriously, where are these things coming from? Whenever I explored the woods before, I didn't have a problem with things like this."

"Personally, I blame you," Stan said, not even bothering to leave Ari's shadow, "You're the one with the Keyblade…"

"Of course," Ari mumbled, "I obviously wanted to have a weapon that would condemn me to a lifetime of having to solve all manners of problems, and then have my sister be attacked by a ghost that would give her a curse to speak Pig Latin. Then, once I was done with that part of my wish, I asked for my family to be so desperate to get rid of it that they would sell me to an insane Evil King who would possess my shadow, cause me to have my first fight with my only friend, one-sided as it was, and then have both he and I get set out on a quixotic mission to kill other Evil Kings to help him regain his power."

Stan looked at him for a moment, not making a single sound for quite some time, before he ended the silence by saying, "Slave, you murmur quite a lot. I couldn't understand a single word you said. I think that you should speak louder."

"Well I think…" Ari muttered, until a strange sight appeared in front of him. A woman dressed like a pirate with her orange hair over her right eye charged at the ghost on the bridge with a rapier drawn. That, however, wasn't the weird thing. The weird thing was that she was carrying a pink parasol as she did this, blocking the sunlight, as intended.

Confusing as her decision in items to carry was, Ari had to respect how skilled she was with that weapon. Still, a parasol? The ghost lunged at her, only to be blocked by the sword, which the woman then used to slash right through the ghost, dispatching it with ruthless efficiency. Clearly, this woman, whoever she was, was a professional when it came to killing ghosts.

The strange woman then turned to Ari, who decided that, whatever she was going around attacking ghosts for, he did not wants to give her an excuse to attack him, so he sent the Keyblade elsewhere. Wait. Where did it go? The box? His room? Maybe it went into his jacket. This was a very confusing moment for him. At any rate, the strange woman was heading in his direction. What could she possibly need to talk to him about? Stan was still in his shadow, and, as for himself, he hadn't been in her way. There was no reason that he could think of.

"What were you doing?" she seethed, solving the puzzle of why, "Don't you know how dangerous ghosts are."

"Yes, ma'am," he said in his whisper, "I do have some experience in this field."

"You need to have a weapon when you're going out here," she added as if he didn't answer, giving him a once-over with her eyes, "To be honest, I'm surprised you made it this far."

Wordlessly, Ari summoned the Keyblade, held it in front of him, and asked in his usual whisper, "Will this do for me having a weapon?"

"You have a Keyblade?" she asked incredulously, before she switched into a calmer tone of voice and said, "I suppose that you'd be safe out here, then. Carry on with whatever your quest is then, Wielder."

"Who are you?" Ari asked, still trying to puzzle out what was going on.

Having probably not heard him, she left the confused boy to his own devices, not answering his question. He wished that Julia was there. If she was around, he'd both get his questions answered and have better company than the King of the Lazy Shadows. Remembering a promise given hours ago, he stood there, lost in memory as Stan grew impatient with his mode of transportation spacing out with an odd expression on his face.

"Slave!" Stan shouted, "You are doing that weird spacey thing again. It is getting unnerving. We must get to Madril as soon as possible!"

"Of course, Your Highness," Ari mumbled quietly, "Pardon me if you can't even travel on your own."

Suddenly, the pair found that their path was blocked by a man in a lab coat.

"Um, would you mind moving, sir?" Ari asked, getting ignored, as usual.

"Bah!" Stan groaned, "You call that getting him out of the way, Slave? YOU THERE! MOVE!"

The man in the lab coat turned and saw the pair.

"Oh my," the man said, moving his hand through his grey messy hair, "a talking Shadow. Fascinating. If my calculations are correct, you are of some high class of Heartless, possibly a boss. Of course, that might make the boy a Nobody, but as he does not seem to be doing much, that would not be possible. Perhaps… No he has a Keyblade… Well, I suppose that if the…"

"Um, we need you to move, sir," Ari said politely, "My name is Ari, and this is Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad the XIV. We're in the middle of a quest, you see, and you are blocking the path."

"Ah, yes," the man said, "I, Doctor Gutten Kisling, am scientist who is in the field of studying ghosts, Heartless, Nobodies, and the like. Perhaps we shall meet later, as you tow would be an interesting study, of that I am certain. Farewell and good luck on whatever your quest is."

With that out of the way, the pair wandered to the village of Madril, where their first actual quest would soon begin.


	6. Chapter 6

Okage Hearts

Chapter 6

I'm beginning to question the necessity of putting a disclaimer on each chapter. I still don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. Shocking, I know.

Sorry to take so long to update. Things will start to deviate from the game from here on out.

"Well, that was weird," Stan said, still trying to puzzle out the scientist they met along the way.

"I never would have guessed," Ari muttered, having gotten tired of Stan's continuous revisiting of the scientist. Ari found himself wondering if tape could cover the mouth of a shadow.

"At any rate, Slave," Stan said, as if he thought his talking over and over again was part of a conversation they were having, "We need to teach you magic."

"Why?" Ari asked, trying to puzzle out what use it would be.

"You're wielding the Keyblade, which, in and of itself is a legendary weapon, for starters," Stan said flatly, having heard that comment, "Also, it wouldn't do for my slave to be a weakling. Now, the firs spell is a basic Fire spell. You just shout Fire…"

Ari stood there for a moment, waiting for Stan to continue until he realized that the shadow had remembered that he didn't shout. Stan was silent for a moment, before he began again, saying, "You think the word Fire and point the Keyblade at whatever you wish to burn. It isn't as powerful as it can be, but you are not ready for that sort of power, Slave, so why don't we work with what we have to go with? Now, practice using Fire before we head into a populated area. We want to get there without anyone noticing. Otherwise, we could be kicked out. My evil royal title can't help if the population is convinced that you… Treasure chest! Go get it!"

Walking to where Stan was pointing, Ari mumbled, "Yes, sir, Shadow King."

Opening the chest, Ari saw that inside there was some money and a glass tube.

"Well, that was interesting," Stan said, "I wonder what kind of people left this treasure chest here. Ah well. Slave! Get to work on the Fire spell."

Ari tried the spell, pointing the Keyblade at a nearby tree. When he fired, the force caused his arm to jolt slightly, but it didn't prevent him from hitting the tree.

"Good, Slave," Stan complimented, "Now keep going. No Slave of mine will have even the slightest movement of their arm when they use magic."

Ari tried again, but his arm still jolted. Stan just shouted, "Again!"

Once more, Ari tried, keeping his arm perfectly straight and yet his arm still managed to shake slightly.

"Quit locking your arm, Slave!" Stan shouted after twenty-six other failed attempts, "The Keyblade, much like any weapon, requires fluidity and, above all, little to no tension. The Keyblade needs to be an extension of your body. It must be your arm, your heart, your voice! So do as I say and try again!"

Ari lifted the Keyblade, tired as he was, and once again thought the word as he pointed it with a slightly bent arm. He blasted the tree, not having even moved his arm in the slightest.

"Good," Stan said in satisfaction before Ari blacked out from exhaustion.

* * *

><p>When Ari awoke, he saw a girl with orange hair and two horns growing out of her head looking at him. Deciding that this was how his day was probably going to be, he just blinked and closed his eyes to go back to sleep.<p>

"Wake up!" the girl shouted in his ear, ruining his plans of avoiding having to deal with others.

Rising from the ground, he looked around. He was currently in a hotel room.

"I didn't see anything wrong, so I didn't patch anything up. My name's Linda and I'm going to be the world's greatest singer, by the way," the girl said with a cheerful smile.

Ari found himself unnerved. He didn't know how to deal with this girl. He began to wish, yet again, that Julia was there. She would have known what to say. Though, as she didn't like any of the girls in the village to get near him for some reason that probably wouldn't be good considering that the horned girl seemed to have no sense of personal boundaries. Maybe it was for the best he was alone, this time, now that he thought about it.

"Don't you talk?" Linda asked, tilting her head slightly. This was not a pleasant situation for Ari. He was currently alone with someone he had never met before, and, to top it all off, he had no one with a dominant personality to do his speaking for him. He could barely handle strangers with someone there. Why did Stan pick now to be silent?

"I-I can talk," Ari mumbled, still terrified of this situation.

"What?" Linda asked, having seen his mouth move, yet having not heard any sound.

Ari sighed silently, not pleased with the possibility of having to explain again. Still, he had to persevere, so he said, "I can talk."

"Wow!" Linda shouted, "I can't believe he can talk!"

"What are you going on about?" Stan asked, rising from Ari's shadow, "Of course he can talk! Where are we?"

"We're in Madril, obviously," the girl said, her smile not leaving her face, "Though, I think you might want to get out of town. Everything is boarded up, even the music theater. The only places that aren't sealed off are some abandoned factories and the Town Hall."

"What of the Sewer Evil King?" Stan asked, trying to figure out the situation.

"He's hiding out in the Sewers, of course. Just go to the Town Hall if you need more info."

With that, Stan returned to Ari's shadow and Ari rose to exit the building. Before they left, Ari turned and mumbled, "Thank you."

Linda seemed to take no notice of this, but Ari was satisfied. He had said his thanks, so he was not under any obligation to talk to anyone anymore. At any rate, he hadn't done too badly in the conversation, in his opinion. Julia would be proud.

"Alright, Slave," Stan said in a matter-of-fact way, "Let's go to this Town Hall to make people tell me how to get to the Sewer Evil King!"

Ari nodded his head slightly and began to search for the Town Hall. Having never been to Madril before in his life, he found himself thinking that this would be an interesting trip.


	7. Chapter 7

Okage Hearts

Chapter 7

If I owned Okage, then there would have been sequels by now. I think that PlayStation currently owns the rights, as the original company for the game has long since gone out of business.

Ari walked into the Town Hall, dispelled his Keyblade, and went up to the set of windows that were set for different lines. Ringing the bell, he waited until someone came to answer his summon, and asked, "Name?"

"Ari," he responded, not sure if the man even heard him.

"What?" the man asked, verifying Ari's theory.

"Ari," he repeated in a slightly louder tone.

"And what is your business here, Nameless Traveler?" the man asked still not hearing Ari.

"We are here to gather information on this Sewer Evil King, so that I can defeat him!" Stan shouted, rising from Ari's shadow.

"Oh," the clerk said, "Just go through the door to my left, and wait with the rest of the Heroes."

As the pair walked, Stan returned to Ari's shadow, and said, "Well, that was easy. Wait, did he say 'Heroes'?"

Ari opened the door and saw an entire group of people standing in a long line. None of them were particularly intimidating, as the armored ones looked too slow to catch anyone, and the ones without any seemed a bit dim-witted, but that may have just been his view.

"What is the meaning of this, Slave?" Stan asked, not bothering to rise from Ari's shadow, "Why are there so many so-called Heroes. There can be only one Hero, the Great Hero."

Ignoring him, Ari walked up to the window station to get information, when he saw a familiar face. The woman from earlier was at that window, yelling at the man seated there, her parasol still open above her.

"What do you mean?" she roared, causing everyone in the room to flinch in fear, "I have more reason to fight him than anyone here! I need to kill him!"

"Everyone has to take a number and wait, revenge be darned," the man responded, "Besides, you're lucky that you get to go at all, since you're holding an umbrella open indoors. Of course given your situation with your shadow…"

Much to Ari's surprise, the woman with the parasol made a fist and punched the man so hard he fell over. When Ari got to the window, he helped the man up to his feet. Once the man got up, he asked, "What can I do for you? Are you a Hero here to defeat the Sewer Evil King?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Ari muttered, but continued, "I am here to fight the Sewer Evil King, though. Who was the woman who punched you, and why did she do it?"

"That was the Hero Rosalyn," the man replied, "She hit me for mocking her predicament. If you want to know what it is, you'll have to ask her or yourself. Well, since you're here, take a number. You'll be Number 1032001. We're currently on 315, and if they don't succeed, we're going on break for a couple hours, so just wander around if you want."

Mumbling his thanks, Ari walked off, determined to not really do much for the time being. At least that was what he was planning before Stan said, "Slave! We need to find a way in before one of those fools defeat the Sewer Evil King. Search for a secret entrance or something."

Ari automatically began wandering to find such an entrance. As long as he did that, Stan would probably not be very loud or complain. He kept searching before he came across a small building next to the Sewage Treatment Plant. Deciding to be polite, he knocked on the door, only to be greeted by a child who asked, "What's the password?"

"I don't have time for this," Stan growled at the boy as Ari's Keyblade materialized, "Let me in or I'll burn this place to the ground."

Believing that Ari was the one to make the threat, as Stan still hadn't bothered rising, the boy immediately opened the door.

"Welcome to the Spotted Cats Clubhouse," the boy said, "Maggie needs us to come with her to the warehouse. She'll decide what to do with you."

"Great," Ari muttered, "A gang war. I'm really starting to hate this town. I want to go home."

"We can't return until I have reclaimed my power from the Sewer Evil King," Stan responded, rising from Ari's shadow, having been able to understand that comment, "Once that happens, we'll see about going back for a short while. Now go with them. Citizens should have some understanding of the ways through the town."

Ari followed the group and went into a warehouse just across the street from the Clubhouse. Stan had since returned to Ari's shadow, unwilling to be bothered until they were ready to fight the Sewer Evil King.

"Who is this?" she asked, giving Ari a once-over. He had already dismissed his Keyblade for convenience sake, but he was starting of whipping it out just to get them to shut up.

"I am Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad the XIV" Stan shouted, rising from Ari's shadow yet again, "This is my servant, Ari. I want you pathetic humans to tell me where I can sneak into the sewer from, so that I can battle the Sewer Evil King and reclaim my power from him."

"Alright, we'll tell you how to get in. Nice shadow trick by the way," the girl said condescendingly, causing Stan to mutter curses in annoyance and return to Ari's shadow yet again, "But you'll have to help us with a little dispute first."

"What kind of dispute?" Stan asked, looking around at all the empty boxes.

"Our kind of dispute," a nasally boy's voice said, "We've taken the cat of your precious leader, Maggie."

Stepping out of the shadows came a boy who had a face that looked like it deserved punching. Behind him were an unimportant looking boy and the Hero Rosalyn, who muttered, "Of all the stupid things to get to the Sewer Evil King…"

"Give him back, Robert," Maggie seethed, rushing towards the boy before he ran off to the next room.

"You'll have to come and get it if you want it back," he said, cementing his position as most punch-worthy person in the room as he left with the other two in tow.

Ari just started walking. If he was going to get that information, he was going to have to deal with this nonsense as quickly as he could. Once he entered this room, he found that there were boxes stacked one on top of the other blocking the way.

"It's one of his puzzles," Maggie helpfully explained, "Do you think you can solve it?"

Ari had now reached a dilemma. He really wanted to get the information, but he also wanted to just leave the "gangs" to their own devices, since it seemed to be some sort of strange lover's spat. He was trying to decide what to do when he had what he considered a good idea. These boxes were empty, anyway, so why not?

Ari summoned his Keyblade and pointed it at the boxes, focusing on them, and thought, 'Fire.'

The boxes were engulfed in flames which were low enough for him to leap over, followed by his two companions of no real use. As he walked into the room, his Keyblade still not dismissed, he looked around for Robert, while the boy that introduced him to Maggie whispered to her, "He said he could burn a building to the ground. I knew he wasn't lying."

"He can talk without summoning the shadow?" Maggie inquired quietly, "I honestly thought that the shadow was the only way he could talk."

Robert came out and said, "So, you beat my puzzle… Why do I smell smoke? Anyway, even though you won, I'm not going to give you your stupid cat back."

Ari's grip on his Keyblade tightened as he began to head towards Robert to get rid of the nuisance, but paused when the Hero Rosalyn stepped forward and slapped Robert.

"You're going to give her the cat back," she said coldly, "I've put up with enough nonsense for today."

In response, Robert ran off, leaving the cat on the ground. Ari just stood there, trying to figure out what just happened while the unimportant boy left after Robert. Maggie ran to the cage the cat was in and let it out, cuddling it to her chest. Then, turning to Ari, she said, "Well, a deal's a deal. The back way is a small area near the locked gate next to this warehouse. You can get there once I unlock it. Thanks for the help."

With that, she left with her cat and the boy who brought Ari to her in tow. Once Ari had gotten his bearings and decided to head out, he was stopped by the Hero Rosalyn holding her sword out to block his path.

"Why are you going after the Sewer Evil King?" she asked.

Ari was about to respond, when Stan said, "I have to get something important form him."

"Oh," Rosalyn replied, before continuing, "Keyblade or not, a kid like you shouldn't be alone down there. I'm going with you"

"Okay," Ari softly replied, "That's okay with me."

"Good," Rosalyn replied, ignoring the fact that his voice seemed different as she drew her rapier, "Let's go!"


	8. Chapter 8

Okage Hearts

Chapter 8

I still don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts.

Ari and the Hero Rosalyn were heading to the sewer to fight the Sewer Evil King. Once they got to the entrance to his lair, the Hero Rosalyn turned to Ari and said, "You don't have to go down with me. I need to kill him for personal reasons. If you want, you can tell me what it is you need from him and I'll bring it up for you."

"Thank's but no thanks," Stan answered, not bothering to rise from Ari's shadow, "Whatever your business with him is does not concern me, and so my business should not concern you."

"Touchy, aren't we?" the Hero Rosalyn asked, "Alright, if you don't want to talk about it... Let's go then."

Just when she removed the cover to the entrance, James made his appearance and said, "Sorry, Sire. I was with Natasha... I mean working to ensure you didn't have much trouble."

"Who is that?" the Hero Rosalyn asked turning to face the pair.

"That's my butler, James," Stan said, still not rising from Ari's shadow, "Very well, James, you may go return to your duties."

"Yes, Sire," James responded, whatever business he had with the Evil King forgotten. Once James left, the Hero Rosalyn returned to the task of removing the cover.

"Got it," she said after a couple of seconds, "Now let's move. We need to be quick. If the Heroes catch wind of us going while everyone is on break before we kill him, we won't hear the end of it, and will be forbidden from even trying to kill him."

With that, she pulled Ari in after her as she went down the hole in the ground. Ari sighed to himself. No matter what happened, he seemed to be surrounded by people with very controlling personalities. While he didn't mind it on Julia, as her use of her control over him was what led to their close friendship, given that she had literally told him that they were going to be friends when they met, thereby giving him someone who he could always count on. These thoughts made him start to wish she was there, yet again. Stan then whispered in a voice only he could hear, "Slave, keep your mind on task. We're close to him. I can feel it. Afterwards, you can go on break."

Ari then returned to the task at hand, preparing for a battle that would probably not be fun at all. As he and Rosalyn came across a giant rat, who was larger than any other rat, or even human that Ari had ever seen.

"What is this?" Rosalyn asked, losing her calm, "You're not the Evil King!"

"Yes, I am," the giant rat replied calmly, "I am the Sewer Evil King, and I plan on taking over the world."

"But you're nothing like the Evil King who transformed my shadow!" she shouted angrily, glaring at the rodent while making Ari uncomfortably aware of the Evil King who lived in his shadow, had turned his sister's shadow pink and seemed to have power over shadows in general. Hopefully, Stan wouldn't do anything stupid.

"Bah, you fool!" Stan said, ruining Ari's hopes for no trouble from the woman with the rapier, "I, Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad the XIV am the one true Evil King!"

"King Stan?" Rosalyn asked in horror, further dashing the chance of a peaceful parting of ways after dealing with the Sewer Evil King, "NOOOOOOOOO!"

"Well, if you took the trouble to come down here to fight me," the Sewer Evil King commented, "I suppose that I have to fight you."

With that said, Rosalyn went back into her Hero's mindset and pulled out her rapier, getting ready to fight as tiny shadow creatures rose from the ground.

"Heartless," Rosalyn said under her breath as if saying a curse, "You're going to want to summon your Keyblade now. You're going to need it for the fight."

With that, she lunged for some of the Heartless, and began attacking them mercilessly, hacking through them as if they were weeds. The Sewer Evil King, on the other hand was far behind the Heartless, summoning more and more of them as they got closer, pushing Rosalyn back as she attempted to get him.

Having finally decided on the proper course of action, Ari began swinging the Keyblade at the Heartless, cutting through them without any real problem, almost as if it was made for the purpose of killing Heartless. As he continued his path, the Hero Rosalyn was killing Heartless as she continued, and kept moving towards the Sewer Evil King. Once Ari got to him, he began hacking at the giant rat until he remembered a very useful lesson he had and pointed the Keyblade at him and thought of Fire, burning the Sewer Evil King, which cause the Heartless to stop materializing as Rosalyn finished them off. Ari sent burst after burst against his opponent until the rat seemed to shrink down to the size of an ordinary human while Stan grew slightly, and cheered, "YES! I feel my power returning to me!"

Ari was glad this particular quest was over, so he could get home and see Julia and then get to sleep in his own bed. His joy was shortlived, however, as at that exact moment, Rosalyn was arguing with Stan quite vehemently about her shadow, which he had evidently turned pink after deciding she wasn't in the right shape to be his host. Somehow, whatever he had said had offended her. Ari hadn't really been paying attention to the argument which seemed to be some sort of lover's quarrel until Rosalyn had pointed her sword at the shadow so he had no idea what the conversation was about.

"You can't kill me," Stan said smugly, "I have no tangible body to stab at."

"Well, then, what about your host?" she replied with a smirk of her own as she grabbed Ari from behind and holding her sword lengthwise along his throat, "I'll bet this is your 'Perfect Host.' It'd be a shame if he lost his head. You'd have to spend years finding a new one from inside your bottle."

"Look," Stan said, trying to negotiate, "I can't fix your shadow until I have all my power back at full capacity. If you want your shadow to be a natural color again, you're going to have to work with me on this."

Rosalyn looked at him for a moment before she released Ari and said, "Only until my shadow is natural again."

Ari, meanwhile had summoned his Keyblade again, planning to not get rid of it until he felt safe again.

* * *

><p>Ari checked into a hotel, which had let him stay in a room for himself and offered one to Rosalyn, who accepted. Unfortunately, his two companions decided to argue with each other again, and, since he was attached to one and the other wasn't leaving, he had to deal with them.<p>

"So, Stan," Rosalyn said, looking slyly at the shadow as she spoke, "I suppose that you have no weakness in this form."

"Indeed," Stan boasted, "As long as Ari's shadow exists in the world, I'm with him."

"Goodnight, Stan," Rosalyn smirked, snuffing out the candle in the room, which was right by Ari's head. She then addressed Ari directly and said, "Okay, we're alone, now."

Ari felt a chill of fear overtake him when she said that. The last time she was near him, she almost removed his head from his body. Yet, when she failed to even attempt to do so, he relaxed slightly, Keyblade still in hand.

"There's a Princess," Rosalyn said calmly, "It's said that she has all kinds of magical powers and can perform miracles. Maybe she can solve our problems. Don't let Stan find out, though. He'd get suspicious."

Ari nodded. He didn't want King Chatterbox to die, no matter how annoying he could be, but if someone could get him off the hook for the debt his parents pushed upon him, he'd take the chance. Rosalyn then gave him a kiss on the cheek and left the room. Ari, spent from everything that happened that evening, passed out, dreaming of seeing his best friend again.


	9. Chapter 9

Okage Hearts

Chapter 9

Got another chapter done sooner than I thought I would. And yet, I still don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts.

Ari was shaken awake roughly. He opened his eyes and expecting to see Stan forcing him to get ready for some insane quest, despite the plan to return home for the time being. He was half right.

"Wake up!" Rosalyn shouted, "The elevator is fixed, so we can go to Rashelo."

"What elevator?" Ari mumbled sleepily, trying to return to dreamland.

"The elevator that leads to the second level of the city," she answered, "It's the only way to reach Rashelo."

"You've mentioned Rashelo twice," Stan said suspiciously, "What's so important at Rashelo that would make you want to go there, woman?"

"I stole your Map O' Evil Kings, you poor excuse for a shadow," she responded quickly, pulling the map out of her pocket, "There's one there."

Ari felt sure she was lying, but, decided to think better of it and get out of bed.

"You sleep fully dressed?" Rosalyn asked in confusion.

"What my Slave wears is not your concern," Stan replied, growling at the woman as he spoke. Deciding that he didn't want to deal with this, Ari got up and snatched the Map O' Evil Kings out of Rosalyn's hand and started heading to the exit. If this was how life was going to be, he was going to get though it as fast as possible. He did have a friend he wanted to see again, after all.

As he kept walking, ignoring Stan and Rosalyn bickering behind him, he eventually came across an elevator that was near a diner. Deciding he wasn't hungry, Ari proceeded to the elevator. Once inside, he had to deal with Stan and Rosalyn arguing again. He found himself wishing that the princess would be able to teleport him far away from the pair once she severed the connection Stan had to his shadow. Maybe she could put him back in his home.

Despite this hope, he couldn't help but feel that the Princess was going to be a spoiled brat. Still, if she could get him away from the bickering Evil King and Hero, he would take his chances. To his surprise, when he got up to the elevator's destination, Linda was there singing.

Walking up to him, she said, "Hi, Coach! Did you hear my singing?"

Having decided long ago that silence was the better part of valor, Ari nodded.

"Was I doing a good job?" she asked cheerily, prompting another nod.

"Thanks, Coach," she said with a grin, "I'm going to practice some more."

With that, Linda left as Rosalyn exited the elevator, and commanded, "Now, let's go to Rashelo to see the Pr... Fight the Evil King!"

Ari was rather interested, now. The Princess was in Rashelo. That meant that, if Rashelo was close enough he could stop having to deal with those two sooner than he could have hoped. Today was shaping into a good day.

* * *

><p>Once they arrived in Rashelo, they came across a familiar face for Ari and Stan.<p>

"Hello, friends," Gutten Kisling said with a smile on his face, "I am glad to see you, actually. My research has gone stale, so I believe that I will be able to study more if I follow you around, since an Evil King is certain to bring in more ghosts and the Keyblade is bound to bring Heartless. Ah, I see you have a Hero with you, as well. This is most wonderful, as with the presence of a lovely Hero as well as the Keyblade and an Evil King there are bound to be an exponential increase in ghosts in this vicinity, due to the nature of these creatures, as well as the natures of you, yourselves."

Ari just nodded his head, having become used to longwinded speeches because of his father's tendency to ramble on for hours. Deciding that letting Kisling travel with the group wasn't a problem, he just waved his arms in a gesture that meant follow and continued on the path while Stan, presumably bored with the argument with Rosalyn returned to his usual place in Ari's shadow while Rosalyn left to do something she wouldn't explain, though Ari had his suspicions that it involved a certain Princess. Ari, meanwhile felt happy for the first time since he left Tenel. He was so close to freedom that he could already hear Julia's voice.

'Wait,' he thought having hear her voice say an unfamiliar name, 'Who's Beiloune?'

Turning around, he saw a red-haired girl in a red and white dress with buckles along the skirt and a strange either crown or fence on her head. Behind her was a man with a strangely large noes who was rather well-dressed himself, presumable the aforementioned Beiloune, who was following her. Either this was the Princess, or Rashelo was a place for the wealthy to spend their time. Either way, he wasn't pleased with the possibility of dealing with this girl.

Suddenly, though, he heard Stan's voice in that whisper from earlier saying, "The Princess! I will be able to regain my power if I can just gain access to her and her magical power."

As she passed them and got closer to the pier, Stan returned to Ari's shadow, presumably to try to seem stealthy. Just when Stan had returned to Ari's shadow, the Princess had seemed to notice Ari and turned to look at him. She had a strange look in her eyes when they saw each other. He thought he saw recognition on her face. Did she know him, somehow? He didn't know her, as far as he could recall. He didn't know there even was a Princess.

Before he could think further on the subject, the moment had passed and the princess had moved on, getting closer to the pier. Ari looked away, trying to puzzle out what it was that was going on with the Princess, when the oddest thing to occur that day happened. A fish creature that was larger than the average person leapt out of the water.

"I'm going to guess that's the Evil King," Ari muttered to himself, "It's not like I wanted things to be simple."

"I am the Bubble Evil King" the piscine abomination said gleefully, "And I am taking the Princess to my lair to hold for ransom!"

With that, the self-proclaimed Bubble Evil King grabbed the Princess and leapt into the sea. Ari watched with annoyance, already knowing what was about to happen. Sure enough, Rosalyn arrived, followed by Kisling, while Stan rose from Ari's shadow again.

"We must save the Princess!" Rosalyn shouted, striking a heroic pose.

"We must defeat the Bubble Evil King and reclaim my power!" Stan shouted, striking what would probably have been a more imposing pose if he were three dimensional.

"We must go there, FOR SCIENCE!" Kisling shouted, raising his index finger into the air.

Ari just stood there as Beiloune went up to the group and exclaimed, "The Princess has been taken by a being calling himself the Bubble Evil King! Hero Rosalyn, we need your help! Who are these people with you?"

"Um, this is the esteemed scientist Gutten Kisling, leading expert in the field of ghosts and Heartless," she began, trying to keep up the illusion of being teamed up with respectable members of society, "And this is King Stanley Hihat Trinidad the XIV."

"And the boy the King is attached to?" Beiloune asked, either not noticing or not caring about the fact that said King was blatantly evil.

"Oh," she said, having obviously forgotten about Ari entirely, "That's my... apprentice, Ari, current wielder of the Keyblade."

Beiloune raised an eyebrow at Ari, almost as if the boy's very presence was a surprise, before he said, "Excellent. This team sounds like it would be sufficient to fight the Bubble Evil King. Please move quickly and return the Princess to my care."

And with that, the trio was off, preparing themselves to fight the Bubble Evil King.


	10. Chapter 10

Okage Hearts

Chapter 10

I still don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. Still, I've gotten three chapters up this month, so I'd say this is a pretty good month.

Ari and company hurried to a nearby boat. Despite how determined his three companions were, none of them had access to a boat. As such, they had to find someone who would be willing to give them a lift and wait for them to come back. As they continued down the dock, they noticed there was only one boat currently there, with its owner seated inside.

"Excuse me," Ari said in his loudest whisper, "We need a boat to rescue the Princess Marlene. She's been taken by the Bubble Evil King, and we're the ones her caretaker has sent to get her back."

"Oh, sure, kid," the man replied, much to Ari's surprise, "just hop in."

With that, they were off. As Kisling took water samples as they sped toward the castle, Stan and Rosalyn were arguing once again, about things Ari could not care less about. After the first twenty minutes, he decided that enough was enough and closed his eyes. If they weren't going to be quiet, he would go to sleep and ignore them as they did the whole 'old married couple' routine they seemed to be obsessed with continuing for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately for Ari's plan, the ship made it to a solitary castle in the middle of the sea. Finding it safe to say that this was the lair of the Bubble Evil King.

Once they got off, Stan said, "Slave, when we return to rest in your pitiful home, remind me to teach you how to use the Freeze spell."

"He's not your slave!" Rosalyn shouted, "He's his own person!"

"Actually, I was sold to him in a very strange series of events," Ari muttered as a new argument began, before turning to the boatman, "Would you please wait here? If we aren't back in.. let's say twenty minutes, leave and tell a well dressed man with a big nose that he needs to find some more people to help him. Also, please go to Tenel, if it's not too much trouble and tell a girl in a white dress named Julia that Ari said he was sorry he couldn't keep his promise."

"Sure, kid," the boatman nodded, pulling his oars into the boat. Once all the preparations were made, the group continued, Stan having returned to Ari's shadow at some point.

* * *

><p>As they continued through the bowels of the castle, Ari began to wander, trying to find anything that could be of use. As they continued along the path Ari had chosen, they came across a chest right on top of some sort of podium. Deciding to test whether it was of value, Ari summoned his Keyblade. As soon as it was in his hand, he pointed it at a chest and mumbled, "Open."<p>

As per the norm when dealing with the magical key, Ari got the chest opened. Once he got it opened, he found a Swirly Piece of Metal. Not sure of what use it would be, he still took it. Better to have it and not know what it was for than to not have it and find out when he needed it the most.

"Ari, that's theft!" Rosalyn protested. Ari was going to protest exactly why it wasn't, but Kisling had beaten him to the chase.

"Actually, Hero Rosalyn," he said, "It's not actually stealing, as the treasure chest is in a castle that had been abandoned for centuries, and his Keyblade is clearly authorized to open these chests. As such, the Keyblade Wielder has full reign over any locked item that is not claimed."

Ari, wanting to get this done with so he could go home, backtracked, deciding to continue the search for Princess Marlene. As the quartet continued, Stan still not rising from Ari's shadow, they were repeatedly attacked by ghosts. Even though Ari was annoyed, Stan, Rosalyn, and Kisling seemed to be having the time of their lives. Kisling, Ari could understand for his enthusiasm. The man was a scientist who studied these things, so finding them must be something he would be thrilled by. Rosalyn made some sense as well, since she was a Hero, she would want to fight evil. Stan, on the other hand, made no sense. Why would he care about the ghosts if he didn't gain power from killing them? What fun could he have while randomly destroying...? And with that though, Ari deduced what would make Stan enjoy doing this.

Eventually, the team of completely different people with entirely different motives came across the Bubble Evil King in the bottom of the castle. beside him were several green Heartless with spears and fish for helmets.

"So," the ichthyoid abomination said, "You managed to find me. That's not going to be a problem. Once I get rid of you all, I can wait here for the ransom money to come."

"Wait," Rosalyn said, "So you're not going to try to use the powers of Princess Marlene to strengthen your own power and attempt to take over the world? I thought that was your evil scheme."

"Well, that wasn't the original plan," the Bubble Evil King admitted, "But now that you mention it, I think that's a brilliant plan."

Smacking his forehead at Rosalyn both thinking like Stan and giving the Bubble Evil King a better, if a bit convoluted, plan, Ari began the charge against the Heartless, slicing his way to the Bubble Evil King. As his companions joined in the onslaught, he made his way to his target and began to use Fire against him.

Unfortunately, such an attack had no effect on the giant fish, so Ari had to leap away from his swiping arms and his attempts to crush him with sheer weight. After Ari barely escaped another swipe, Stan shouted, "Alright Slave, here's a quick lesson: if you want to use Freeze, in your case, you think Freeze and point the Keyblade at the target. Now use it!"

With that,Ari began to send burst after burst of freezing air at the Bubble Evil King, seeming to weaken him bit by bit.

"Now slash at him with your Keyblade!" Stan demanded. Ari, glad for the help, willingly complied and struck the Bubble Evil King, who then proceeded to shrink to the size of a child.

"Where am I?" he asked, "I don't remember anything. I should probably get back home to the sea. Whoever you all are, I think there's a Princess upstairs in the attic."

* * *

><p>AT that, the group rushed upstairs, making their haste to reach the Princess as quickly as possible. When they made it upstairs, Ari thought he saw a familiar face and so asked, "Julia?"<p>

He then noticed that it wasn't the right girl. Julia had short blond hair, and wore a white dress. The Princess was the same girl he had seen on the docks, so he amended his statement, saying, "Forgive me, Your Highness. I must be more tired than I thought."

"You are forgiven," the Princess said in a calm tone as she neared him, "I had earlier thought that we had met from somewhere, but clearly we have not."

"Don't worry, lad," Kisling said, making Ari wonder if the scientist even knew his name, "Mistakes like that happen to all of us!"

Right after he said this, he gave Ari a pat on the back, knocking the boy into the Princess, who went from calm to angry as she raised her hand to strike him. As Ari bid farewell to consciousness, he heard Stan mutter something about the Princess having no heart.


	11. Chapter 11

Okage Hearts

Chapter 11

I still don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts, judging by how none of my contacts have said that Hell has frozen over.

Ari woke up hearing people arguing over percentages. What the percentages were for, he didn't know yet, but he was certain that he wouldn't like the result. Opening his eyes to greet whatever it was that he would have to deal with, Ari found that the room was full of a divided group of people, one to his left, and the other to his right. On his left, made of blackness, glowered Stan, accompanied by a barely interested Kisling and a floating James. On his right, dressed in red, Princess Marlene stood, looking irritated but intent. Beside her were a calm Beiloune and an irate Rosalyn.

"Ninety-eight/Two, my favor!" Stan shouted, "He was my Slave in the first place."

"Ninety/Ten, my favor," Princess Marlene said, "Intentional or not, he assaulted my person."

"Eighty-nine/Eleven, my favor," Stan counter-bid for whatever it was of Ari's they were haggling over, "I have more use for his shadow than you do."

"I don't know what's going on, but I already don't like it," Ari muttered, not expecting to be heard. Much to his surprise, Princess Marlene turned her head down to look at him, having evidently head him.

'How could she have heard me?' he thought, 'Only Julia and sometimes the baker usually hear me on my first try to talk.'

"I'm afraid that this matter doesn't require your enjoyment," she said in a controlled tone that seemed almost familiar to Ari, "As you assaulted me, you are required to be my servant, but, due to your previous commitment to Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad the XIV, I need to bargain for what percent of you I will get. Eighty/Twenty, my favor. I have more use for a Keyblade user than you do."

"Seventy-five/Twenty-five, my favor," Stan returned, "He's my most useful Slave and I hold him second only to James among my followers."

"Seventy/Thirty," the Princess responded, a twinkle in her eye.

"Deal," Stan said, assuming that he was going to get the Seventy Percent.

"My favor," the Princess added as she shook Stan's hand, sealing the deal, "I could do with company that's my age. No offense, Beiloune."

"None taken, your Majesty," the butler said, clearly bearing no ill will toward the Princess. As this exchange took place, Stan grumbled to himself over being tricked and returned to Ari's shadow while James left to do whatever it was he did.

As he rose from the table that they had evidently placed his unconscious body onto, Ari decided to not kill himself, just yet. Why should it matter to him who owned what percentage of him at the moment? He was going home soon. They had beaten the Bubble Evil King, and Stan had already promised him leave of absence for this time. He couldn't wait to tell Julia what he had gone through. He was going home and he was keeping his promise. What could possibly go wrong?

Deciding that his day was going to go well, Ari began to head for the door.

"Where do you think you're going, Servant Ari?" a voice he was already getting angered by asked. Why couldn't anyone just let him go home and rest without question? Was that so hard?

Maintaining his decorum outwardly, as he always did, he turned to Princess Marlene and said, in as polite a tone as he could muster with his nearly silent voice, "I'm on leave, Your Highness, as per a prior arrangement with Stan. As such, I'm going home, Your Majesty."

"Very well," Marlene said calmly, again surprising him by hearing his voice so easily, before adding fifteen words that Ari did not particularly enjoy hearing, "Beiloune will go pack my belongings and we shall go as soon as he returns."

"Beg pardon, Your Majesty?" Ari asked, hoping against hope that he didn't hear what he though her heard.

"Well, it would hardly be seemly for the Servant of the Princess to be away from the Princess he serves, would it, Keyblade wielder?"

"No, it wouldn't," Rosalyn answered for him cheerily, "That is a very good point, Your Highness."

Ari wasn't sure whether he should feel betrayed or amused. On the one hand, Rosalyn definitely tossed him into this situation. On the other hand, watching her fret and fawn over the Princess was amusing. Meanwhile, he either had to wait for the Princess to be ready to go and get to introduce a real Princess to Julia, albeit at the price of having to deal with another person who thought of him as a commodity to keep around, or head out before she had the chance to come along and wind up imprisoned or executed. Deciding to go with the lesser of two evils, he sat down and waited until Beiloune got there and the entire group headed out. And so, the boy who had left Tenel with a Keyblade and an Evil King as a living shadow set out to return with the Keyblade and the Evil King as the living shadow, but also with a somewhat unhinged Hero (Heroine?), an overly enthusiastic scientist, a butler who made him feel uncomfortable, and a Princess who now, for all intents and purposes, owned Seventy Percent of him. Upon mentally tallying up this headcount, Ari decided to never think his day was going to go well again.

* * *

><p>Upon arrival in Tenel, Ari noticed that the Circus Tent had recently left, as the post holes were freshly emptied. Continuing on, he decided to head to the village before he went to his house, having decided to see Julia to let her know he was fine. Upon entering the village, he headed straight to the Inn, planning on asking her father if he knew where she was.<p>

* * *

><p>"Excuse me, sir," Ari said for the tenth time, finally getting a reaction, "Do you know where Julia is?"<p>

"Who?" the Innkeeper asked, looking confused.

"Julia," Ari repeated, "You know, your daughter?"

"What are you talking about, Ari?" the Innkeeper asked, clearly not understanding what Ari was talking about, "You know I've never had children. Wow, your trip must have gotten you all addlepated. Maybe you should check in with your family, get a good night's sleep."

Ari, unable to figure out what was going on, decided that he'd probably be better off heading home. As he walked, still being followed by the group, Ari muttered, "Stan, you remember Julia, right?"

"Who?" Stan asked in confusion, rising from Ari's shadow.

"Julia, my best friend, the blonde girl I was talking to before we went through all of this," Ari answered, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Slave, I don't remember a girl who spoke to you other than Linda, who I know wasn't in this village, and had met you after our quest started," Stan said, returning to his customary spot, "Are you feeling well, Slave? Maybe this vacation was a good idea after all."

After that statement, Ari was extremely confused and continued to try to understand what was going on. His thoughts were interrupted when Princess Marlene walked up to him and asked, "Who's Julia?"

When he turned to face the Princess, he was very surprised to see her eyes somewhat narrowed at him. Confused by her dark expression, he merely answered, "She's a girl I remember, but no one else seems to. Wherever she is, she's my best friend, and once I'm done with all of this adventuring, I'm going to look for her, Your Highness."

At his words, the Princess' expression seemed to soften as she placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "I'm sure you'll find her, Servant Ari."

"Thank you, Your Highness," Ari said as they got closer to his home.

Then, much to Ari's surprise, Princess Marlene grabbed his hand and said, "If you're in need of a best friend, I'm willing to take that role for you, if you wish."

And with that said, the group of six very different individuals walked through the gates of Ari's house and an interesting meeting was soon to take place.


	12. Chapter 12

Okage Hearts

Chapter 12

Sorry to take so long to update. I still don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. I wonder how many of the people who read my stories read these disclaimers. Well, disclaimer readers, it's nice to see you figuratively. Well, time to continue the story. Now: Story Begin!

Ari led his group of high ranking psychopaths into his home one by one, though the Princess had entered at the same time as him, as she hadn't let go of his hand in the ten seconds between grabbing it and getting to the door. Stan, meanwhile, was in Ari's shadow, so he was in at the same time as well. Once Ari entered, he was, of course spotted by Annie and her pink shadow.

"Mom!" Annie shouted in her inimitable way, "Ari's home and he brought a girl and a bunch of other people!"

As a result of Annie's shouting, Ari found himself swarmed by his entire family while Princess Marlene was holding his hand. When he was here last time, his mother had all but told him to get a girlfriend. And now, here he was, returned home with a girl holding his hand. He knew how his mother though and so Ari began wondering whether coming home was a good idea, after all. Julia was missing and he couldn't do anything about it until he finished the quest at hand, so this entire thing could be considered a wash. He murmured his greetings to his family, and was then assaulted by a barrage of questions from his mother.

"Ari, how are you?" she began before launching the rest of her volley, "Have you been enjoying your adventures? Are you eating right? Who are all of these people? Why does that woman have a parasol open in the house? Is that your girlfriend?"

Ari turned to the legion of psychosis behind him and the Princess who had immediately removed her hand from his upon hearing the last question. Using his usual quiet tone, he asked the Princess, "Do you mind answering those questions? It'll save everyone the trouble of having to have me repeat myself."

Nodding her head, Princess Marlene turned to Ari's mother and said, "In order of your questions? Servant Ari seems to be doing well, thought I'm unsure of how he feels about his quest, as I met him when he had completed a mission to rescue me, for which I am grateful. I don't know if he's eating properly, as I have yet to see him eat at all, though we only met yesterday."

"He hasn't eaten at all," Stan commented, taking the opportunity to come out of Ari's shadow, "That's a bit disturbing, since I need him at full health."

"As do I, King Stan," Marlene replied before continuing, "I presume, due to the story that King Stanley Hihat Trinidad the XIV has presented, that you know of the Shadow Evil King's role in your son's life. The gentleman in the dark clothing is my butler, Beiloune, who is a very loyal butler. The scientist in the lab coat is the esteemed scientist, Doctor Gutten Kisling, an analyzer of the supernatural. The lady with the parasol is the Hero Rosalyn, and while I don't know why she has it open, her arguments with King Stan have led me to believe that she has an issue with her shadow that he had caused. As for myself, I am Princess Marlene. and due to extenuating circumstances, I currently own Seventy percent of Servant Ari."

Unnoticed by the rest of the crowd, she had managed to completely ignore the final question. Ari was impressed. He'd never been able to avoid a question so skillfully, but then again, he'd never really been asked questions that often as it was.

"That's interesting," Ari's mother said, "But I have to get dinner ready. Do you want to help me, Your Highness? I'm sure it'll be an interesting learning experience."

"That does sound intriguing," the Princess remarked, "Very well, let's be off."

"So you specialize in the supernatural?" Ari's father asked, directing his question at Kisling, "Well, I have some items that you might find interesting. First there's the..."

As Ari's father and Kisling left for the basement, Beiloune headed to the kitchen, presumably to keep an eye on the Princess. Ari's grandparents, meanwhile, returned to the room they were last in And so, Ari found himself alone in a room with Stan, Rosalyn and Annie.

"Let's see," Ari muttered to himself, "Rosalyn is angry with Stan for turning her shadow pink, and Annie also has a pink shadow. This is going to be **fun**."

* * *

><p>Ari managed to fall asleep during the argument. At least he hoped he did. Being rendered unconscious seemed to be fast becoming a prevalent theme for the poor Keyblade wielder. At any rate, he was asleep when he heard his mother call everyone to dinner. Confused, since he was certain that he had gotten home at noon at the latest, he determined that either something was horribly wrong with his hearing, or no one had woken him up at lunchtime. Deciding that it was probably the latter by the darker state of the room he was in, Ari simply got up and headed to the dining room. Noticing that everything was set already, with everyone else seated, he placed himself at his normal seat, only to find that Marlene was seated across from him while his mother was smiling at them in what Ari was certain was her plotting face.<p>

"So, tell us about yourself, Your Highness," Ari's mother prompted gently.

"Well, I must admit, my memory of the past is rather fuzzy at the moment," Marlene confessed, "I know I was waiting for something, but I can't for the life of me recall what it was. At any rate, I was wandering lost and confused for some time before Beiloune found me and reminded me of who I was. According to him, I wanted to head out on an adventure, but I got lost, and he only found me after whatever happened to remove a good portion of my memory."

"I was surprised to find the Princess wandering through a wasteland area without anyone else around," Beiloune added helpfully, "I shudder at the thought of what would have happened if I hadn't found her quickly enough. For now, I'm satisfied with her quick recovery, and we are traveling through the land in the hopes of restoring her memories to their original state."

"I see," Ari's mother stated, "So, how have things been since you were rescued?"

"Well, I've been having a good time," Marlene smiled, "Servant Ari makes good company, though I can't help but feel I've met him before."

The dinner continued with Ari's mother asking different questions of Princess Marlene throughout the meal. Ari's room was offered to the group, while Marlene was going to bunk with Annie. Deciding that he didn't want to be trapped in a room with Rosalyn and Stan, Ari decided to sleep in the living room, and so he headed there and went back to sleep, not knowing it would soon be interrupted.


	13. Chapter 13

Okage Hearts

Chapter 13

Sorry for it being a few days late. I still don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. I've forgotten the flower's name. Hopefully, that's the right one. If not, someone tell me in your review.

Ari woke to the nearly nonexistent sound of someone trying to sneak down the stairs. This was definitely not the way he wanted to start his evening, which he planned on being uneventful and filled with sleep, but now he had to deal with this issue that had arisen. Summoning his Keyblade, Ari silently crept towards the stairs. While he highly doubted there was an intruder in the house, he wanted to make sure of that belief, as it was always better to be safe rather than sorry. Stan was still asleep in his shadow, for which he was grateful, as it meant that the king wouldn't do anything to reveal his presence, nor would he be talking, something that Ari was particularly grateful for.

To the boy's surprise, when he found the intruder at the bottom of the stairs already, rather than it being Rosalyn coming down to argue with Stan, which he had somewhat expected it to be due to what he was certain was some sort of lover's spat he had yet to understand that was going on between the two, it was Princess Marlene standing before him, smiling innocently at him as she said, "Um... Good evening Servant Ari. I'm glad you are awake, actually."

"Why?" he asked, confused as he could be, "What could you need me to do in the middle of the night?"

"I wish to repay your mother for the cooking lessons, Servant Ari," she explained softly, "As such, I want to look for a Moonflower to give to her as repayment for her kindness."

"What does that have to do with me?" Ari asked, though he had a suspicion as to what his evening was going to turn into.

"You're coming with me, of course," Princess Marlene said with a cheerful smile, which reminded Ari of all the times that Julia had made him play her 'secret mission' games with a smile like that. With his mind occupied by his memories, Ari didn't even bother struggling as Princess Marlene led him off, deciding that acquiescence was the better part of valor in this case.

"Where do you two think you're going?" a strong feminine voice asked. Turning, the pair saw Rosalyn standing there, fully equipped and wielding her parasol.

"That is a very good question, Hero Rosalyn," Princess Marlene said in a regal tone, "You are very perceptive to have noticed that we are leaving the house, which is of course and excellent trait in a Hero of your caliber. The answer to your question is... What in the world that could that be?"

The exact instant that Rosalyn instinctively turned around to face whatever it was that was behind her as she drew her sword quicker than the eye could see, Princess Marlene quickly grabbed Ari's hand and rushed out the door, all but dragging him out of the house. Once the two children had stopped running in the forested area, Ari moved so that he was facing the Princess as he asked, "Was that really necessary?"

"Yes," Marlene responded with another one of those smiles, "If we'd have told her, she would have insisted on coming along with us, and I only wanted to have you with me, Servant Ari."

"Why just me?" he inquired, now even more confused. Not many people ever wanted to deal with him in general, and now someone other than Julia wanted to be alone with him?

"Because...umm... I wanted to have my trusted Servant with me, and having a Hero alongside the two us would lead to a lot of conflict with all sorts of ghosts and Heartless," she responded hastily her cheeks looking slightly darker, though that might have been Ari's imagination, "At any rate, when did it become appropriate for a Servant to question their Princess? Now that this matter is settled we must go find that flower, Servant Ari."

* * *

><p>It was a long, arduous search, with neither being able to spot the desired flowers. Ari occasionally had to fight off a few ghosts and Heartless, as well as some bizarre forest animals, but the pair had really not had much difficulty come their way aside from those fleeting instances. After a few minutes of this cycle repeating, Marlene finally broke the silence that had been between the two of them and asked, "So, just how much does this Julia mean to you, Servant Ari?"<p>

"She's my best friend," Ari responded honestly, "She's been with me since she noticed that I was being more or less ignored by everyone else in the village. I miss her."

"Ah," the Princess said, not pressing any further.

The pair to fall into another silence until Ari, not used to having anyone around him silent for long asked, "How long has Beiloune looked after you?"

"According to him, he's been around since I was an infant," she responded, "Personally, I don't really remember much, but I think I believe him."

Ari held his tongue at the 'I think.' It wasn't really his business, so he shouldn't question what she says is a fact. It was her life, after all. If she said she believed him, he would have to believe her. As a yet another silence brewed between the two, Marlene's suddenly eyes focused on something directly behind Ari as she cheered, "There it is! We've found it, Servant Ari!"

Turning, Ari saw a group of white flowers that glowed like little stars. As Marlene walked determinedly towards the flowers, he went up to them and began picking them slowly, so as to not damage them. Once they got what Princess Marlene considered a suitable amount, they headed back to Ari's home.

Once they were at the door, which Ari would bet money that Rosalyn was currently standing directly behind, Marlene turned to face him.

"Thank you for helping me Ari," she said gently before giving him a peck on the cheek. Upon giving him the kiss, Marlene quickly opened the door and rushed back to Annie's room with a serene smile on her face.


	14. Chapter 14

Okage Hearts

Chapter 14

I don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. If I did, then the former would already have a sequel, and the latter would release the real sequel sooner. Only a few chapters to go, now until the end of this story.

Ari was unsurprised to see that he was completely right in theorizing that Rosalyn was waiting on the other side of the door. When he got into the house, she, of course, began shouting what seemed to be a mix of a tirade and an interrogation, yet it managed to suit the purpose of neither part of the mix. Unfortunately for Ari, though, while her shouting was just barely quiet enough to not wake up the whole house, it was loud enough to for her to have woken up Stan, who had been asleep throughout the entire adventure Ari had with the Princess. As a result of him being woken up before he wanted to wake up, the pair once more began their usual arguments anew, while Ari had to bear witness to their lover's quarrel. Eventually, Ari managed to force himself to go back to sleep and not think about the kiss Princess Marlene had given him, despite the fact that it kept continuously popping back into his mind.

When he woke up the next day, Ari noticed that Rosalyn was not in the room. Deciding that she must have gotten bored and went to get herself some breakfast, he began looking for the rest of his group.

He, of course, found them all in the dining room, enjoying lunch. Adding insult to injury, Stan, though still attached to Ari's shadow, had actually stretched himself in order to get there, meaning that he didn't even bother to wake the boy. Upon seeing said boy, Ari's Mother grabbed him and said, "Ari, you really need to stop sleeping through meals. You're as thin as a rake! Come on, now, you need to eat."

With that, the boy found himself shoved into his usual seat, once again across from the Princess, who, upon seeing him sitting across from her, blushed and focused on her plate, eating as quickly as she could.

When lunch was finished, Ari's family had lined up to once again tell him their goodbyes. His Father, Grandfather, and Annie, who had surprisingly bonded with Rosalyn over their pink shadows, had all pretty much said the same things they had each said last time. His Grandmother was next and she said, "Defend your heart, dear child. It is quickly approaching a danger that it has never faced before. Never forget your friends, missing or not, as you will need them in ways you would never expect when the time comes."

When it came time for him to talk to his Mother, said woman dragged him into the next room for what she was going to say.

"Son," she inquired, "You remember the music box I gave you?"

Ari nodded, knowing that speaking wouldn't get his response known until he'd said it five times.

"Well, I think you should give it to Marlene," she said, causing him to pause. She wanted him to what?

"Give it to Marlene," she responded, reading his facial expression, "Now don't look at me like that. She's a sweet girl, and you both seem to like each other."

Ari's cheeks went red, but he nodded his agreement, thinking on how Marlene could probably use a gift. She didn't seem to have that much joy in her life from the way she described it, so maybe getting a gift would help cheer her up.

With all of his goodbyes in order, Ari walked out the door, ready for the next battle. Well, not really, but he was definitely going to pretend he was at least.

Before he did anything else, he walked up to Marlene, pulling the music box out of his pocket that he was certain led to a bottomless pit somewhere. Once he got close enough to her, he placed it in her hands and said, "Um... Here, Your Highness. It's a music box."

"Thank you, Servant Ari," she said, a mildly perplexed expression on her face, "But why have you bestowed it upon me?"

"It's a gift," Rosalyn explained, taking the Map O' Evil Kings out of Ari's jacket pocket, "Basically, if you want to make a person feel better or if you just want to make someone happy, you give them something they wouldn't normally get for themselves."

"Oh," Marlene said, sounding somewhat cheerful, "Thank you, Servant Ari."

"You're welcome," the boy said, trying to ignore the stares that some members of his group were giving him and the weighing look that Beiloune was giving him as he snatched the Map O' Evil Kings out of Rosalyn's hand and looked at what it had to tell him.

'Oh, it's you again,' the Map said in its note, 'Thank goodness. That woman didn't even listen when I mentioned this guy the first time. As I was trying to say before you went off to Rashelo and accidentally found the Bubble Evil King before you defeated him: Chairman Evil King. Madril. Go. Fight. Win. Also, please quit letting the shadow's girlfriend take me whenever she decides to.'

Ari put the map back in his pocket and said, "We're going to Madril. Something about a Chairman Evil King."

"Ah, that makes sense, lad," Kisling said cheerfully, "Now, do we go now, or wait a bit to properly prepare for the battle?"

"We go now!" Rosalyn shouted, charging ahead towards Madril, "For justice!"

"Why don't we not start that again," Ari said as Stan began to rise out of his shadow to deliver his own ...inventive... battle cry. Stan, evidently having heard Ari merely went back into the shadow, not saying a word.

"Should we tell her that we're going at a normal pace?" the Evil King asked.

"I just don't have the heart," Princess Marlene said, watching the Hero slow to a stop and rush back to rejoin the group.

"Sorry," Rosalyn said, parasol still in hand, "I sometimes get caught up in the heat of the moment."

"Do not be overly concerned," Marlene said, "Your enthusiasm is interesting, and I have been informed that excitement is good in an adventure."

With that, our protagonists headed off for the next battle.


	15. Chapter 15

Okage Hearts

Chapter 15

I don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. Sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the others, but I've recently had to fend off a severe case of writer's block for this story. I also apologize for the lateness of this chapter.

As they arrived at the building where the Map O' Evil Kings said that the Chairman Evil King had set himself up, they noticed that people were being checked for business cards at the front door.

"Okay," Kisling said, "What we need to do is spread out and formulate a plan in which we gather several cards and attempt to use each of them to gain access, at which point, we shall have to formulate further strategies in order to gain an audience with the Chairman Evil King and begin to battle him."

Ari turned to look at Stan, Rosalyn, and Princess Marlene, a plan already formulated in his mind. Upon looking at him, the three had different reactions, evidently having figured out his plan. Stan nodded his two-dimensional head vigorously, clearly eager to see Ari's plan in action. Rosalyn shook her head vehemently, ever the pure and noble hero. Marlene stared at him for a moment, as if to determine something before she made her choice. A slight nod of her head indicated her consent.

"Looks like you've been outvoted," Stan mocked as he returned to Ari's shadow, "Besides, you don't have any shares in his time."

Without a word, Ari summoned his Keyblade and began his one-man siege, which was surprisingly effective and violent, with quite a few actual battles along the way, which were all fascinating stories in and of themselves.

When the others managed to make their way past the mountain of unconscious bodies and maneuvered around the giant hole in the floor, they found a surprisingly cheerful Ari waiting at the elevator.

"I feel somewhat better now," Ari said, though only Marlene seemed to hear him Beiloune and Kisling were eying him warily, while Rosalyn was staring at the sheer destruction surrounding them in shock.

Deciding that everyone staying still wouldn't help help his regaining of his power, Stan asked, "Well, aren't we going to go fight that fake Evil King?"

With that, Ari's band of misfits entered the elevator, the natural order restored. As the elevator rose, Marlene took her customary-as-of-late position next to the Keyblade wielder.

When they made it to the top floor, they found that there was no one barring the way to the Chairman Evil King's office. As a result, they entered the office with ease.

"Hello, everyone," the Evil King in the Executive's chair said, "I see that we have the esteemed Doctor, the Hero with the pink shadow, a Keyblade Wielder, a Butler, a somewhat powerful Evil King, and the Princess. How would you like to work for me, Your Highness? The company offers free dental."

"Is... is it human?" Ari asked, causing Marlene to smile, "Something looks wrong with it."

"I'm afraid that I will have to decline your offer," the Princess said, "At any rate, I do not even know what your business sells."

"You're not going to use the Princess' name to make ill-gotten money," Rosalyn shouted, already slipping into what Ari privately called 'Hero Mode' as she interrupted the Chairman Evil King's attempt to explain his strange rumor-based plan.

"How can a Hero who herself works with an Evil King willingly be considered a Hero," the Chairman Evil King inquired idly, leading to Kisling, Beiloune, and surprisingly Stan holding her so she couldn't rush at the man.

"Your Highness," the Chairman Evil King said smugly, "If you don't join me, then I'll be forced to spread a rumor that you and your Keyblade Wielder were seen kissing."

"Do as you will," Marlene said, grabbing Ari's hand, "We are in love."

Ari was rendered speechless by that statement, not that anyone would notice. The highly visible reddening of his cheeks, on the other hand was definitely noticed.

"Is this fellow really an Evil King?" Kisling of all people asked, "He doesn't seem to understand people very well, not that the others were any better. Him releasing information like that would be met with adoration from the masses."

"Well, that is to say..." the Chairman Evil King began before pointing behind them and saying, "Look, an Evil King!"

Confused, the entire group turned, while the Chairman Evil King muttered something about an Escapeless Abyss in Ramille Plains. When the group turned around, Stan commented, "Somehow I expected this. Well, there's nothing for it now. Let's go."

* * *

><p>Once they got to the Escapeless Abyss, the group began wandering until they found their target.<p>

"How did you find me?" the Chairman Evil King asked, seeming genuinely confused.

"Word of advice, from one Evil King to a future Dead Evil King," Stan said, "Don't ever mention where you're escaping to if you plan on fleeing."

"Very well," the Chairman Evil King said, "If I have to fight you, then i'll win. I'm more powerful and I'm smarter than any of you."

"You are aware that amongst us are an Evil King who has conquered two other Evil Kings before you, the Keyblade Wielder, a Hero who lives up the the name, the Princess, her manservant who spent quite some time in search of her, and myself, a man who knows more about your supernatural nature than even you, yourself could ever dream of understanding?" Kisling asked in an overly cheerful tone, "I believe that you will find us more than capable of dealing with you and any minions that you could present to battle us."

The Chairman Evil King, clearly feeling more intimidated by the scientist's words summoned large, fat Heartless that had helmets and the symbol that had been on Stan's bottle etched on their chests.

With that, the fight began. As Ari slashed through the Heartless as if they weren't even there, his companions were attacking the groups that he didn't bother dealing with.

"Slave, you need to use Freeze," Stan said.

Nodding in agreement, the boy began using Freeze whenever he wasn't directly striking the Chairman Evil King with his Keyblade. Eventually, he managed to wear him down, at which point, the Chairman Evil King's power flew to Stan as quick as a flash.

"Where am I?" the man asked as he looked at the group around him, "What am I doing here?"

"You were the Chairman Evil King," Kisling said simply, "We defeated you in combat. Can you recall anything from your time as an Evil King?"

"I remember something about a tunnel, a tunnel underneath Madril, near the back of the sewer," the man said, "Other than that, I can't remember anything other than wanting to take over the world, which, by the way, is a terrible strategy. I'd rather own it. Real estate is one of the best things to work with. Oh, also, whatever this is."

He pulled out some strange-looking device and tossed it to Ari, who vanished the Keyblade to catch it. Upon gaining it, Ari put it into his jacket, where it promptly vanished until he would need it again.

"Now what?" Stan asked as the former Chairman Evil King left.

"I believe that we have had enough adventure for today," Beiloune said simply, "I would recommend finding an Inn and resting for the time being."

"I agree," Marlene responded, once more taking Ari's hand, "We will need to rest for whatever we must fight next."

With that, the strange band of oddities headed to Madril to rest at an Inn, unaware of what was to come.


	16. Chapter 16

Okage Hearts

Chapter 16

I don't own, in any way, shape, or form, either Okage or Kingdom Hearts. And, as promised at some point in time, this chapter arrived earlier than last month's chapter.

When Ari's band of oddities met up in the lobby, the discussion on what to do next began, yet again. The two people arguing about the matter were, of course, Rosalyn and Stan.

"I say that we should wait a bit and get better organized, so we can be ready for the next battle," Rosalyn said, glaring at the shadow looming behind Ari.

"Bah!" Stan scoffed, "Waiting will give our opponents the time to entrench themselves further in wherever they're hiding themselves. I say we strike now."

"What sort of strategic idiot would ever go without a plan?" Rosalyn asked indignantly.

"All of us, several times by this point," Stan replied, sparking another argument.

Ari, deciding that he didn't want to bother dealing with the pair since their arguments tended to drag on, turned to face Princess Marlene and, in his quiet voice, inquired, "What do you want to do, Your Highness?"

After a moment of thought, Marlene answered, "I'd say that we should go, as I think that the adventure would end up being drastically slowed if we do not continue."

"You're absolutely right, Your Highness," Rosalyn said, switching her opinion immediately, much to Ari's private amusement, "We should continue the quest."

With that settled, the group once again headed out as Ari looked into the Map O' Evil Kings to find the next Evil King they'd be forced to fight.

'Hello, again,' The Map said, 'I take it you're here for the next Evil King. This is getting a bit repetitive, isn't it? Well, it's kinda odd, really. The Big Bull Evil King isn't staying still. If anything, he's heading towards your group. Personally, I think that you should probably get into a forested area, since that'll make your job easier, since there won't be any messes to clean up. Other than that, not much is going on; regular stuff, lots of adventure, and yes, you will have to still deal with your new friends after. Now, put me away and just keep walking.'

"The Map says that we should keep walking," Ari told Princess Marlene, who relayed his statement to the rest of the rabble. At the behest of the odd piece of paper, the group once more returned to their travel.

"Slave," Stan remarked, "I believe that it's time I had James teach you a defensive spell to protect yourself with. James!"

"Yes, Sire?" the ghost said, appearing in front of the shadow and his boy.

"Teach slave the Wind defense," the man replied, "You know the one."

"Ah, yes," the ghost remarked, "Let's see... Oh! Now I remember! Just say the word 'Air.' Well, I wish I could stay but I need to get back to Natasha... I mean, fulfilling my Evil King's goals from afar."

"Very well, you may leave, James," Stan said, evidently actually believing the ghost's blatant lie. Nevertheless, Ari wasn't going to bother explaining the situation to the shadow, if only because he didn't want to have to repeat himself. He did, however, mentally file away the spell for the time being.

"I hear that you're fighting Evil Kings," a loud, deep voice remarked, coming from a grinning creature that appeared to be some sort of cross between bull and man, "Well, I, the Big Bull Evil King challenge you to combat! Meet me at the Big Tree Hole, if you're tough enough!"

With that, the bull man ran off at speeds that would leave normal people like a few of our heroes baffled. Fortunately, there was very little that could baffle Ari, as he had given up on having a comfortable normal life when he woke up with a shadow that talked. As such, he once more consulted the Map O' Evil Kings, which said, 'That was odd. Anyway, what you need to do is follow him. So, just go. He left footprints you could follow easily. Now put me back.'

Putting the Map O' Evil Kings back in his pocket of infinite wonders, he began following the footprints like it suggested, the band of misfits following him, presuming he knew the way.

* * *

><p>When the group reached their location, they walked through for some time before the found themselves once more face to face with the Big Bull Evil King.<p>

"So, you made it," the Evil King said, "I guess you're tough enough to fight me, but I'm tougher, so let's get started!"

With that, more of the fat Heartless appeared, which Ari once more cut his way through before meeting the Big Bull Evil King in combat.

Ari suddenly found himself being flung into the air with a powerful punch, before gravity mercifully sent him back down. As Stan healed him, he began to try to remember what it was James had said he needed to say to have the defensive spell activate. Right as The Big Bull Evil King was about to hit him again, he remembered and mumbled, "Air."

The Evil King's might punch was deflected by the wind, knocking him off balance and straight into Ari's outstretched Keyblade. Seeing an advantage, Ari began pummeling the Big Bull Evil King with his Keyblade, only using his magic to replenish the defensive wind that was surrounding him. When the Evil King finally fell, Ari stopped attacking while Stan once more grew with the return of more of his power.

"Did anyone catch where that boulder came from?" the Former Big Bull Evil King asked, gripping his forehead with one hand. When he noticed the group around him, he asked, "Who are you and where am I?"

"Let me form a hypothesis," Kisling remarked, "You recall planning on dominating the world, yet you now no longer possess that desire?"

"Yeah, that's right," the bull-man replied cheerfully, "My name's Big Bull, by the way."

"Well, you had been an Evil King until the Keyblade wielder bested you in combat while we dealt with your minions," Kisling explained, further proving Ari's theory of him not knowing his name.

"You beat me?" Big Bull asked incredulously, turning to face Ari, "You must be real tough to do that. Tell you what: I'm going to go with you guys and help you do whatever it is you're doing."

"I suppose it's always better to have some help," Rosalyn remarked, "So, Ari, where are we going next?"


	17. Chapter 17

Okage Hearts

Chapter 17

I still don't own Kingdom Hearts or Okage: Shadow King. While writing this chapter, I realized that Linda never received singing advice from Stan in this story, so a new nickname needed to be created. Other than that, there's not really that much to say.

As the ever-increasing team of misfits exited the Big Tree Hole, Ari once more consulted with the Map O' Evil Kings.

'Wow, three times in one day,' the Map O' Evil Kings noted on the page, 'That was fast. Well, if you're so sure that you're set for yet another battle against yet another Evil King, I won't stop you. The next Evil Kings is the... Teen Idol Evil King? Really? Huh. I'm really starting to wish I had a better job than this or, barring that, that the Evil Kings had as inventive names as the one attached to you. Hey, when all this is over, what am I going to do? Ah well, I'll worry about that later. She's... can a girl be called a King? Anyway, She's somewhere in Madril. You know the drill. Go, fight, and maybe get to head home at some point.'

"The next one's in Madril," Ari said simply, talking to the group, only for Marlene to have to repeat it so they heard.

"Then let's go!" Stan shouted as The group began their march back to Madril.

"I wonder whatever it is that's made this town a magnet for Evil Kings," Kisling remarked, "It appears that we find them there more often than not."

* * *

><p>When the group managed to arrive at a train station, Ari was surprised to find it practically empty except for Linda, who cheerfully ran up to the group.<p>

"Hey, chief!" the girl smiled, heading towards the group.

"Servant Ari," Marlene said frostily, "Who is she?"

"Her name is Linda, Your Highness," Ari responded in his usual tone of voice, Stan not bothering to rise from his shadow.

"Who's she, chief?" Linda asked, not tearing her eyes from Marlene.

"Please stop speaking with my servant," Marlene said, showing some anger in her tone.

"He's not your servant!" Linda shouted indignantly, "He's chief."

"Begging your pardon," Kisling said, trying to calm the situation down as best he could since Stan, Beiloune, Big Bull, and Rosalyn did nothing to intervene, "but how did you two meet?"

"It was like something out of a romance novel," Linda sighed blissfully, "I was wandering through the forest outside of the village to find inspiration for a song when I saw him lying on the ground, completely exhausted with the other half and the giant key. I took him home and nursed him back to health. It was love at first sight after that. Nothing that she'd understand. She doesn't even seem natural. How could anyone like her?"

Marlene's hard expression wavered for a moment before she hurried out of the building, Ari rushing to try to catch up with her.

* * *

><p>She had lost him after a few yards, until he managed to stumble into just the right Inn. The Innkeeper was surprisingly understanding, most likely from the fact that Ari and company were becoming legendary for the number of rooms they would rent, and led him straight to Marlene's door. Listening carefully, he could hear the tinkling of a music box playing in the room. Preparing himself to actually speak, he knocked on the door and, in a voice almost approaching normal volume, "Marlene? Can I come in?"<p>

Slowly, the door opened, revealing the Princess, her hair slightly messy with some tears still streaming down her face. Stepping to the side, she gestured for him to come in.

"Are you okay?" he asked, sitting next to her on the bed.

Wiping her eyes, she nodded before asking in a soft voice, "Am I truly unnatural, Servant Ari?"

"No," he responded gently in his quiet way, "You're as normal as I am."

He paused, thinking on the fact that he had a giant key for a sword and an Evil King living in his shadow before saying, "Okay, bad example, but you're not unnatural. You're just you, and no one can take that from you."

"Thank you, Ari," she said, smoothing her hair, "I forgot myself for a moment. Would you be willing to do something for me?"

"If I can do it, I will," he responded sincerely.

"Please promise me you will never change drastically," she requested, the lullaby of the music box suddenly silenced as she closed it.

"I promise I won't change drastically," he replied, surprised by her request. So many people had always told him he needed to change in some way, but here was someone who wanted him to stay as he was. It was an odd feeling to be needed, as he only ever felt it with one other person.

Before that thought could be further contemplated, Rosalyn burst into the room, parasol in hand as always, Beiloune walking behind her.

"Ari, Your Highness!" she exclaimed, "I have good news and bad news."

Yes? Marlene asked, having regained her regal grace.

"The good news is we might have figured out who the Evil King is," Rosalyn said.

"And what would the bad news be?" the Princess asked the Hero.

"Well..." Rosalyn began slowly, "The bad news is that she's your friend, Linda. She's hypnotizing the masses with her singing."

"Bah!" Stan shouted, rising from Ari's shadow, "We shall fight her all the same and reclaim my power!"

"We'll beat her in the name of Divine Justice!" Rosalyn exclaimed, unsheathing her rapier and pointing it skyward. A momentary silence filled the room, only to be broken by Stan.

"Where are the other two idiots?" Stan asked.

"They're..." Rosalyn paused, looking behind her to see an empty hallway, "Where **are** those two idiots? My guess would be that they're among the crowd of hypnotized people. Looks like we're on our own."


	18. Chapter 18

Okage Hearts

Chapter 18

Sorry it's a bit late, but here's the latest chapter. I still don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts, and I doubt that I ever will. I also don't own Star Wars.

"Linda, we're here to put a stop to your attempts at world domination!" Rosalyn shouted, though the Teen Idol Evil King didn't seem to hear her.

"There they are," Ari muttered from a few yards away, having bumped into Kisling and Big Bull.

"Yet how shall we remove the hypnosis from their minds?" Marlene inquired, looking at them curiously.

"Hypnosis?" Kisling asked, turning to face the pair, "We're not hypnotized. I'm observing the actions of an Evil King from an objective standpoint. That is to say, I am watching the crowd from within. The magic appears to be tied to the song, so it is possible that stopping her song will end the effect. Interestingly enough, the members of our party seem to be immune to the spell, though I can't understand why."

"Shouldn't we be fighting the Evil King?" Rosalyn asked.

"I never thought it'd be possible, but I have to agree with her," Stan remarked, "We need to go fight."

"What are we waiting for, then?" Big Bull asked, "Let's go!"

With that, the former Evil King charged through the crowd, knocking people aside and leaving a convenient path for his comrades to follow, Rosalyn in the lead. Once they arrived onstage, Rosalyn shouted, "Linda, we're here to put a stop to your attempts at world domination!"

"But I want to take over the world," Linda responded, "Do you really want to fight me, chief?"

"Bah!" Stan shouted, rising from Ari's shadow, "An Evil King does not ask for mercy! They take what they want by force, as I do!"

"You're right!" she responded, "Meet me at the Pospos Snowfield. We'll fight there!"

With that said, the girl ran off, leaving the group behind. Not sure where the Pospos Snowfield was, Ari pulled out the Map O' Evil Kings, which read, "Okay, just go straight the same way she went. You'll get there after a while."

Taking the Map O Evil Kings' advice, Ari began walking, followed by his group of oddities. Along the way, they came across several chests that Ari went through, despite Rosalyn's less-than-enthusiastic feelings towards the matter. For some reason, several of them were filled with gears and the like. After Ari finished pillaging the boxes, they continued along their path. When they finally made it to the Pospos Snowfield, Linda looked at them and said, "You made it! When I left you I was but the learner. Now I am the master."

"You are no master of evil," Stan replied, "Now prepare for battle!"

"All right," the Teen Idol Evil King responded, "Let's fight!"

At those words, a large group of plain black Heartless appeared, surrounding Linda. Once more, Ari and company charged at the field, with Ari taking the lead and cutting his way through them. Eventually, he managed to cut his way through them enough to make it to Linda. Casting Fire, he rushed at her, making as many strikes as he could in as little time as possible. As happened with the rest of the fights, Ari eventually won, though this battle took mor etime than the others, as she was surprisingly good at fighting.

When she was finally defeated, Stan's power flew out of Linda's body and into him, grinning in his shadowy way, Stan cheered, "Now more of my power has returned to me. Soon I shall be all-powerful once more!"

"I don't really feel bad that I lost," Linda remarked, "Still, I wonder what I'm going to do, since I don't think I'll be dreaming about having a concert at the back of the sewers anymore. Here, take this!"

Ari caught the thing she threw, which appeared to be a Long Screw of some kind. Placing it in his pocket, he didn't notice the glow that emanated from the pocket.

"It seems that every Evil King we've faced has mentioned the back of the sewers, my young friend," Kisling said, actually speaking directly to Ari, "What possible reason could these supernatural beings fueled by the same power have the same compulsion yet one that is also powered by the same source does not possess such an urge. This is an interesting conundrum."

Ignoring the Doctor's rambling to the boy, Princess Marlene turned to face Ari and said, "Servant Ari, I release you from my service."

As the boy tried to process this new information, Linda remarked, "Now we'll be proper rivals for chief's love. What do you love about him? I love his yellow eyes."

All of the other members of the party turned to look at Ari and noticed the distinctly not yellow eyes.

"Ari's eyes aren't yellow," Princess Marlene responded.

"Yes they are," Linda protested, "Well, the ones on the main body are."

"Which body do you think is the main one?" Kisling asked, looking at the boy and his shadow.

"The shadow, isn't it?" she asked, looking at the pair in confusion, "Isn't the other one a doll of some kind? Some super-secret disguise so chief can travel incognito?"

"It must be somehow related to her being some sort of devilish creature in her own right," Kisling muttered, "Ah well, no harm, no foul."

Turning to face Ari once more, Princess Marlene said, "Servant Ari, I am reinstating your employment, and am further adding that you must be my servant until your death."

As the boy felt the universe once more shift in a manner that made the little bit of sense he was used to rather than the confusion he was experiencing moments ago, he relaxed a bit as Beiloune asked, "What is the next item on the agenda?"

"Why don't we just see what's so important in the sewer?" Ari muttered, which only Marlene heard.

"Why do we not just see what is so important in the sewer?" the Princess inquired, asking the question for him.

"An excellent idea, Your Highness!" Rosalyn cheered, "Let's go and find out in the name of Divine Justice!"

"In the name of Science!" Kisling added, raising an index finger into the air.

"In the name of my conquest!" appended Stan, "Onward, Slave!"


	19. Chapter 19

Okage Hearts

Chapter 19

I still don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. Sorry this chapter is late. I was busy.

Ari and his bizarre group of traveling companions that seemed to be getting larger and larger as time passed once again were journeying to Madril, where they would explore the back of the sewers. When they finally made it to the entrance to the sewer that Ari, Rosalyn, and Stan had previously entered from in their successful attempt to defeat the Sewer Evil King, Ari suddenly felt a firm grip on his arm as he prepared to enter. To his surprise, when he turned to see who it was that had grabbed him, he saw Princess Marlene grabbing his arm.

Before he could ask the Princess what she needed from him, she stated, "I do not desire for my clothes to become dirty during our sojourn inside of the sewers, Servant Ari. I require that you carry me in your arms until we reach cleaner ground, if any such ground exists in the sewer."

For some reason, he'd suspected as much, but he knew that he'd need to climb down first, so he quietly said, "I think you'll have to be on my back, Your Highness. I'll need my arms in order to get down there."

"Very well," she responded, an odd expression on her face, "That will be sufficient."

With that exchange finished, Ari found himself carrying Marlene on his back as he climbed down the ladder. She was surprisingly light, as if there was no substance to her, so it wasn't too hard to do so.

Once each and every one of them were down the ladder, the group continued down their path, heading toward the back of the sewer while Ari tried to avoid noticing the subtle glare Beiloune was giving him for some unknown reason.

As the group continued, Ari noted that the sewers were much larger than he thought the last time he was down here, but he hadn't really looked around at the time, so it was most likely always that way.

Once the band of oddities of varying professions reached the back of the sewer, where the ground was distinctly cleaner than the ground in the rest of the sewer, Ari released Princess Marlene, who promptly took up her apparently self-appointed position next to him once more. As they looked around the chamber, their attention was caught by the strange circle on the ground, which seemed to have various odd markings carved to form it.

"Hm. . ." Kisling muttered, "I don't recognize most of these runes, but a good number of them are power runes. I believe that this might be a device made to increase power tenfold. That would, of course explain exactly why so many of the Evil Kings, including our two compatriots here, Big Bull and Linda, felt an irresistible draw towards it, though it does not explain why the third Evil King in our company, King Stan, was completely unaffected by the draw of the power chamber. Perhaps it is because he is an incorporeal entity tied to a specific sentient corporeal being's life force. . ."

Stan had heard enough, however, and therefore rose from Ari's shadow and said, "Well, slave, you heard him. It's a power magnifier. Step into it so I can increase my power!"

Sighing a world-weary sigh, Ari stepped inside of the circle, causing the circle to glow. As the group around him seemed to get worried and called for him to exit the circle, Ari suddenly saw a flash of bright light, followed by darkness. Looking around once he regained his sight, Ari noticed that the group didn't seem to be looking at him. As a matter of fact, they all seemed confused.

"Where is that stupid shadow?" Rosalyn growled, her rapier drawn, "I was this close to finishing him off. Wherever the coward's gone, I'll find him."

"What are we doing here?" Kisling inquired, turning to Big Bull, "My friend, would you mind helping me find the nearest research station."

"Sure thing, Doc," Big Bull said cheerfully, "Follow me!"

"I'm heading out," Linda said, "I can't figure out why I was here in the first place, so I'm just going to go. Bye, Princess."

"Your Highness, what's going on here?" Ari asked, only to be surprised when she didn't seem to hear him. Raising his voice to what others would consider normal speaking levels, he called, "Your Highness?"

To his surprise, rather than respond to him, Marlene seemed to accidentally drop the music box, causing it to play. Picking it up, she seemed rather concerned as she said, "My music box! I am supposed to keep it safe. It is precious to me. But why?"

"Come along, Your Highness," Beiloune said, "We should probably leave these sewers. They are not a fit place for a princess to be, even if she is on an adventure."

"Very well, Beiloune," she said softly, leading her butler out into the sewers with no concern for the dirt and such covering the ground, "Let us be off to find a new adventure to go on. I hope it will be diverting."

Confused by the entire situation, Ari did what was becoming a habit for him and pulled out the Map O' Evil. To his surprise, the Map seemed to only have one location that was an actual town. Forming a point on its mostly blank sheet, the Map read, "Okay, kid, the good news is that there's this place for you to go to, which means that there must be people there. It's called Triste, but that's about all I know at the moment. The bad news is that I don't have any other locations at the moment, so that's literally the only place that you can go to at the moment. Maybe when we get there we can find out what happened to you that got rid of the shadow and made you invisible to everyone."


	20. Chapter 20

Okage Hearts

Chapter 20

I still do not possess ownership of Kingdom Hearts or Okage: Shadow King in any way, shape, or form. Other than that, there's not much else to say except that this chapter onward will start deviating a bit further from the details of the plot of Okage.

Having exited the sewers and headed out to the forest outside of Madril, Ari continued along the path that the Map O' Evil Kings showed, occasionally coming across other people, who seemed to not notice him in the slightest. While he was certainly used to this for the most part, he knew that something was wrong, since there were absolutely no ghosts about, despite the fact that they were usually swarming the forest just waiting for him. On the bright side, the Keyblade and his other supplies were still with him, as were his magical abilities.

"Alright, you've made it to this weird town," the Map O Evil Kings said when they reached a large, locked gate, "Now, here's hoping that the Keyblade's magic still works for you. . ."

Bracing himself, Ari pointed the Keyblade at the gate and, in his usual tone called out, "Open."

To Ari's delight, the Gate easily unlocked and opened itself, proving that he could still use the Keyblade and it's power over locks. To his surprise, however, as soon as he entered the gate, a black haired young woman with the only color in her clothing being the violet ribbon and flower on her hat seemed to appear at the gate the instant he crossed the threshold.

"Oh my, that's not good,"the girl remarked, "You're not supposed to be here."

"What exactly is here?" Ari asked, looking at the village with similarly colorless people, "And who are you?"

"This is Triste," the pale girl said matter-of-factually, "Welcome to the world where the Nobodies are forced to reside. My name's K.T."

"What are Nobodies?" Ari asked, though the word seemed to resonate in a way that was familiar.

"Nobodies are people who don't have hearts," K.T. explained, "We can't affect the world in any way because we don't have any presence. Nothing we do can cause any changes, and no one with a heart can see, hear, or feel us. Considering that you were able to enter here and you look like your starting to lose your color, I'd say you're one of us now, which isn't good at all."

"What do you mean?" Ari asked, trying to get a better understanding of the entire situation he'd found himself in.

"The Keyblade can only stick to someone with a pure heart," she responded, "There's no other way for it to manifest itself. If it's stuck with you, that means that it'll never be able to free our hearts."

"Free your hearts?" he prodded, mentally noting that this was one of the longest conversations he'd ever had.

"Nobodies are made, not born," she answered, "We all know our hearts are out there somewhere, locked away somewhere dark and secret, but we don't know where in the world they could possibly be, and even if we did, we wouldn't even be able to get them back because, like I said, we can't affect the world around us. But enough about that. You might as well make yourself comfortable, since this is where you'll be staying for the rest of your life. Why don't you take a look around. You might find something interesting. Be careful, though, there's a weird girl in a plain white dress floating around here."

Before Ari could protest, both K.T. and the Gate seemed to vanish without a trace. Trying to puzzle out what was going on, Ari was shocked to hear a familiar voice.

"Ari?" the voice called out, "Where are you, Ari? Where am I?"

The voice sounded almost exactly like Julia's voice!

Forgetting everything else he'd been thinking about, the boy rushed quickly to the voice, trying to find his friend.

"Julia?" he called out in what others would consider a slightly raised tone of voice if they heard him, "Is that you?"

"Ari, I feel tired," the voice said sleepily, "I think I should sleep."

"Julia, wait," Ari called out, almost shouting as fear overwhelmed his heart, wherever it was, "Stay awake. Tell me where you are."

"Goodnight, Ari. I hope we can see each other soon. . ." Julia said, her voice trailing off slowly before it vanished entirely.

Running around the corner he heard the fading voice from as quickly as he could, Ari was shocked when he crashed into the Ringmaster of the Circus that had given him the Keyblade in the first place.

"Small world, lad," the Ringmaster noted, "I see I was even more right about you being overshadowed than I thought. Fortunately for you, I'm just visiting here, not a Nobody, well, at least not anymore, and I've still got some power in me. I can get you out of here, but it'll take some work on your part."

"What do I need to do?" Ari asked.

"You're going to need to be more sociable," the Ringmaster remarked, before laughing at Ari's shocked expression as he dragged him towards the Gate, "What, did you think you'd have to go on some sort of treasure hunt to find useless trinkets? What you need to do is have an impact on other people, which means talking to others. After you talk to some people, come back here and I can cast a spell on you to bring you back to the borderline of having an effect on the world. After that, it's up to you to keep you running, since this is more of a patch to put your heart back for the time being. You're going to need to let more people in so that you'll be able to protect it when it comes back. Now what are you waiting for? Get going!"


	21. Chapter 21

Okage Hearts

Chapter 21

I don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. Any person who tells you otherwise is either misinformed or deliberately lying to you for reasons that I couldn't even begin to figure out. I'm aware the Ringmaster's name is Block. I just don't like the name, so it will not be mentioned in this story. At all.

Ari was walking, contemplating the fact that he seemed to find himself walking more often than he did anything else. His mind, however, was more occupied with the task he'd been sent on. He had yet to even hear a single conversation since he began wandering. Perhaps he could start at his home of Tenel. It was a start, at least.

"Have you noticed that it's rather warm here?" one man asked the man Ari was certain was Julia's father, the Innkeeper.

"Now that you mention it, I wish I could go somewhere cold," the Innkeeper responded.

"You should try the Pospos Snowfield," Ari suggested, "Though you might want to look out for ghosts and Heartless. They weren't around there when we left, but they might have come back."

"Did you hear that?" the man asked, turning towards the Innkeeper, "I swear I heard a voice."

"That was me," Ari said, "I'm invisible right now, but I'm working on that. Well, I've got to go. . ."

With that, Ari left the Inn, heading off to Madril for another encounter. He wanted to go somewhere with more people so he could get this entire thing done with quickly.

* * *

><p>"Did you hear about the Princess?" an old woman outside the Madril Town Hall asked an old man while Ari approached unnoticed, "She's been traveling on an adventure with her Butler, but no one knows just what the adventure is."<p>

"Of course I heard," the old man responded, "The pair are in this village as we speak."

"Princess Marlene is here?" Ari asked, interested in how all of his colleagues were doing.

"She's staying at one of the Inns," the old man shrugged off, presumably convinced that the speaker was the old woman. Ari, however, was not interested in why the old man seemed uninterested in the addition to the conversation, as he was already heading off to see what one of his associates was up to.

Finding the pair was not as difficult as he expected it to be with the number of Inns in the village. Marlene was playing the music box, which meant that he had a method of tracking her. As the pair prepared to enter their rooms, Beiloune asked "Your Highness, are you quite ready to meet with the Hero Rosalyn in the morning? I believe that you wished to continue adventuring."

"What was your question?" Marlene asked absently.

"Are you ready to meet with the Hero Rosalyn, Your Highness," he repeated patiently, "This is your adventure, after all."

"I am dreadfully sorry for not paying attention, Beiloune," she remarked, "I was just musing."

"On what subject did you find yourself musing, Your Highness?" the Butler asked, perplexed while Ari stood by invisibly and silently, trying to figure out what was going on.

"I do not think I like this adventure," she said honestly, "This adventure is not fun at all. I would prefer to return to the other adventure, the one that was a lot of fun."

"And what made this mysterious adventure so much fun?" he asked patronizingly.

"I do not know," she answered, "But I recall it being a much more enjoyable adventure. Perhaps I shall have an answer for you in the morning. Goodnight, Beiloune."

"Goodnight, Your Highness," Beiloune responded as the door closed. Once it was fully closed and he heard the door lock, the man muttered, "Something is horribly wrong here. Things should have improved once that boy, fortunately, disappeared from the World with the Keyblade. Perhaps I chose poorly. I will need to keep searching. . ."

Ari surreptitiously crept out of the Inn, instinctively avoiding Beiloune's eye as he left. It turned out that doing so was actually a good plan, as when he looked down, he noticed that he was less faded in color than he had been when he'd spoken to K.T. Deciding that he had probably become noticeable enough, he once more headed back to Triste to speak to the Ringmaster about the spell he had mentioned.

* * *

><p>"You're back," K.T. remarked in a mildly surprised tone, "The Ringmaster should be around here somewhere. Are the rumors true? Are you going to reclaim your heart?"<p>

"Hopefully," he responded as politely as he could. He had no idea how to deal with this situation.

"If you do, don't forget us," she requested.

"I won't," he agreed, "I'll try to find all of your hearts and return them to you."

"Ah, back already, lad?" the Ringmaster grinned, "Well, give me a moment. I want the others gathered here so they can see that there's still hope for them."

* * *

><p>Once a large crowd was gathered, the Ringmaster took Ari onto a large podium set up by the Gate and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, This is the Keyblade wielder. His heart was stolen from him, but he's managed to make himself noticed by Somebodies. I am going to cast a spell to return his heart to him, but he will need to be careful to keep it safe. He will head out and try to help, but you must all try to help. If all goes well, you will all be restored to your true selves."<p>

With that, the Ringmaster began an incantation, causing Ari to feel a familiar weight return to his chest. It was at that moment that another familiar weight made its presence known.

"I suppose it would only be courteous to fight you by this point, woman," Stan said, apparently unaware of where he was, "I will try to make your defeat as quick as possible."

"Stan," Ari said at a volume that was almost normal for most people, "You're not with Rosalyn."

"There you are, Slave!" Stan exclaimed, "You would not believe the indignity I had to go through! I was forced to occupy that woman's shadow while you were gone!"

"Welcome back to the real world, lad," the Ringmaster grinned, patting Ari on the back.

"Now, we must return to our journey to restore my power!" Stan shouted.

"We're probably going to need to find the others to make things easier," Ari remarked, preparing himself to once more go on a quest.


	22. Chapter 22

Okage Hearts

Chapter 22

I don't own Okage: Shadow King or Kingdom Hearts. There's not much else to say, as that's as straightforward as a disclaimer can get. Anyone claiming that I own either game is blatantly lying to you.

Ari and Stan prepared to leave to find their comrades, before they simultaneously realized that they had no real idea of how they would go about finding the rest of their group. After a moment of thought, Stan offered an idea.

"Do you think the Map would be able to help us locate the idiots?" the Evil King asked.

"It's worth a shot," Ari replied in the slightly louder voice he'd bee using as he removed the Map O' Evil Kings from his pocket.

'Alright, memorize this, since I can only do this once,' the Map read, 'They barely have enough residual Evil King powers for me to find. The Former Big Bull Evil King is in the Ramille Plains, of all places. The Former Teen Idol Evil King (or is it Queen. . . either way) is in Madril. As for Kisling, I would guess he would be there as well, since most of the interesting magical stuff happens there and that man's obsessed with researching magical things. The Shadow Evil King should be able to tell you where the woman is.'

"Your lofty goals, they're all for naught. You'll never regain that which you've sought," a voice said, causing Ari to summon the Keyblade. Turning to find the source, Ari and Stan were both surprised to see a floating blond, well-dressed man with what appeared to be eye-shadow on his face. Before they could say anything, the man noticed the Ringmaster nearby and exclaimed, "Ah, Circus Evil King! To find you is a good thing!"

"There's no reason for you to think this is good, Phantom Evil King," the Ringmaster replied, ignoring Ari's shocked expression, "I gave my powers to the Sewer Evil King, and now they're where they belong: In Evil King Stan."

"Why would you do that?" the man asked in shock, "Give power to that rat? Classification is what you've fought, instead of doing what you ought."

"I don't want to help someone with destroying the world the was He wants to," the Ringmaster replied, "I just want to run my circus. My entire goal is to continue running my circus without any trouble. He's too busy with the young lady to notice."

"We will meet again soon," the Phantom Evil King remarked, "And you two will face your doom. I wish you luck, Ringmaster man. Pray that we don't meet again."

With that, the Phantom Evil King vanished, leaving only Ari, Stan, and the Ringmaster. Looking around in some concern, the Ringmaster commented, "Considering that he's managed to find you and now knows I'm here, I should probably head out. Take care, lad. May you find whatever you're looking for."

With that, the Ringmaster left, leaving the pair to once again prepare to leave. After a moment's silence, Ari turned to Stan and asked, "So, where did you leave Rosalyn?"

"I left that foolish woman in Rashelo," Stan replied nonchalantly, "I don't think we'll need to go find her so that she can return to the mission."

"Rashelo, here we come," Ari remarked, completely ignoring Stan's remark.

"Slave, you were joking, right? Slave?" Stan asked, surprised by the boy's response, surprised that Ari seemed to be going with a plan of his own.

* * *

><p>To Stan's annoyance when they arrived in Rashelo, Ari was, in fact, not joking. After some time searching, Ari and Stan finally located the wayward Hero, who seemed to be loitering.<p>

"Where've you been?" she said indignantly, "When you left, I had to have that idiot in my shadow. Don't leave me with him again!"

"Alright," Ari replied, "Now, if you're done yelling, then let's go get Big Bull."

With that, the group headed off, ready to pick up the next member of their group.

* * *

><p>When they found Big Bull in the Ramille Plains, he was, of course, working out again. Grinning at the trio, Big Bull shouted, "There you are! I forgot all about you, but then I remembered you but couldn't figure out where you were. Since I couldn't figure it out, I just stayed here and figured you guys would find me."<p>

"Well, are you ready to go again?" Rosalyn asked.

"Of course I am. Let's go find the rest of the gang!" Big Bull cheered as Ari began leading the group to Madril.

Once they arrived in the gear-oriented town, the quartet found themselves immediately greeted by an enthusiastic Kisling.

* * *

><p>"My friends, it is good to see you!" the scientist grinned, "There was little of interest to be found until I remembered your existence, lad. You are certainly a magnet for odd, mystical happenings. As such, it pleases me to know that you have returned, as I can return to studying our ragtag band of strange companions!"<p>

Serendipitously, the elevator to the second level of Madril opened, revealing Linda, who enthusiastically cried, "Yes! We're getting the band back together! I missed you guys so much, even though I didn't remember Ari at first. Anyway, where are we going next? Where's the Princess and her butler?"

"She isn't still in Madril?" Ari asked, "She was here the last time I came by here."

"I haven't seen her around here," Kisling supplied helpfully, "I think someone said that they left this morning."

"She's probably not in the Pospos Snowfield," Rosalyn remarked, "I don't think she liked how cold it was there. And I know she wasn't in Rashelo."

"She wasn't in the Ramille Plains either," Big Bull added, "I was the only one there."

"Maybe she's in your village, Slave," Stan commented, "She seemed to have a fondness for your family, after all."

"I'd hate to agree with him, but I think he's onto something," Rosalyn chimed in, "Let's go."


	23. Chapter 23

Okage Hearts

Chapter 23

I don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts, or anything even remotely related to either other than having a copy of the first Kingdom Hearts and a copy of Okage.

Ari and his companions had finally made their way to Tenel when Kisling voiced a thought that had just occurred to him, saying, "Considering the fondness for your family that Stan referenced the Princess having, perhaps it would be in our best interest to begin the search for said monarch in your dwelling."

"Agreed," Ari nodded, changing his path to head towards his house before Stan and Rosalyn could begin arguing over whether it was a good idea or not. Just as they neared the gate, however, the sound of a man and a woman screaming could be heard.

"Slave, we might want to hurry," Stan suggested urgently, "That sounded like your parents."

Rushing through the gate, the group was shocked to find Beiloune standing just outside of the house, staring intently at Princess Marlene dangling in the air, seeming to be suffocating.

"Ari. . . help. . ." she choked out weakly as said boy's parents attempted to reach her, only to be blocked by some invisible shield.

"You're just in time to save her!" Ari's father called out as the boy's mother continued charging at the barrier.

"Why must you all defy classification," Beiloune asked, not turning to face the group, "You deviants do so much damage and ruin everything."

"Please. . . help. . ." Marlene pleaded as Ari tried to cut his way through the barrier with the Keyblade.

"You aren't truly Marlene," Beiloune continued, addressing the struggling princess, "You are merely a replica, a shell of who my daughter is. Somewhere, my true daughter runs free in the world, evading my sight. Her heart roams freely, and I will find it and return it to her. I was certain that the girl whose heart seemed identical to yours was the right one at last, but I was wrong. Despite you being her Nobody, she couldn't be the holder of my daughter's heart. You are too rebellious. You cannot replace her. I will end this farce and will make preparations to search again."

When he said those words, he gestured with his hand, causing Marlene to vanish in a heart-shaped burst of light. Turning to face the group, focusing his gaze on the visibly livid Ari, he said, "You deviants will need to be destroyed as well. You are the ones who drove me to doing this."

"So the Princess that was here was an illusion?" Kisling inquired, trying to piece the puzzle of the situation together, "Was there ever a Princess Marlene to begin with?"

"Yes," Beiloune replied, sounding like a madman, seeming to want to explain just why he was planning on destroying them, "I created this world for her, but deviants began to appear, and she was lost to me. Over the centuries of our immortal lives, I've sought out where she was hiding, searching for her heart to restore her properly, but I cannot find her for all my power. The hearts I've found are not her heart. It has to be the fault of your people that I cannot find her, boy. That blasted Keyblade was the first thing to arrive that did not belong in my world. I've tried to get rid of it, but it always returns, and its power was strengthened by that Ordinary Boy who broke from his own classification.

"I know my daughter is out there, though. I will rid the world of you deviants and once I have, I will once again have a perfect world, where I will finally be able to track down my lost daughter and be reunited with her at last. To that effect, I will create even stronger Evil Kings, with much more powerful classifications to destroy you all. You, Stanley Hihat Trinidad the XIV, are clearly not the Great Evil King, as you haunt a deviant and are being decent around others. I will wait in my World Library, where I will create and empower my new Evil Kings, and when I am finished, nothing shall stand in my way!"

With those final words, Beiloune vanished, leaving the entire shell-shocked group to stare at the space that he'd been occupying, though Ari was staring at the space where Marlene had been before Beiloune destroyed her.

After a moment of silence, James appeared, looking at the group with a curious eye, "What's wrong with all of you? You're all as pale as a midnight ghoul."

"Perhaps we should think on what we have experienced," Kisling mused, being the first to break out of the stupor that the group had fallen into, "Gather our thoughts, so to speak."

"I still can't believe that she was a Nobody," Rosalyn remarked, "I always thought that Nobodies were myths."

"You thought that Nobodies weren't real, woman?" Stan asked incredulously, "There are Heartless and Evil Kings, yet you think that Nobodies don't exist? Still, I must agree that it is surprising that she was one. It does explain why she seemed to lack a heart, however."

"Kisling?" Ari asked, bringing himself into the conversation, "He talked about classification. Do you know anything about it?"

"I do not, but I can guess," the scientist admitted, "If I understood Beiloune correctly, and he was as right as he appeared to be, then Beiloune is the creator or our world. At the very least, he created a system to control our world. Classification is the power he wields over our world, deciding the fates and destinies of people so that they fit the narrative that he was building for the real Marlene, who is his daughter. After he lost her, he apparently went mad with power, and began using the hearts of others as replacements for the Nobody we were traveling with to attempt to find Marlene's heart. By what he has said, he is planning on destroying all the 'deviants,' as he calls those who go against the roles he assigned them."

"I'm going to go stop him," Ari said determinedly, "Are you all coming with me?"

"It would be best if we stopped him before he completes this ultimate Evil King that he's working on," Kisling noted.

"I agree," Stan responded, "I refuse to be upstaged by any fake Evil King."

"I don't care about classification," Rosalyn answered, "I'm a Hero no matter what, though I wonder where the real Princess Marlene is. . ."

"I'm going to best that fake Evil King, then I will defeat you, woman!" Stan shouted, "My Evil transcends any classifications!"

"I'm coming with you, too!" Big Bull proclaimed loudly.

"Oh, oh, me too!" Linda cheered.

"We need to think of just where they would be hiding," Rosalyn remarked, "It would have to be someplace out of the way, where nobody would ever go."

At the word 'nobody,' Ari looked up, a thought striking him. Once the thought fully formed, he said, "I think I know just the place. Let's go. I can lead the way there."


	24. Chapter 24

Okage Hearts

Chapter 24

I don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney, and Okage's current ownership is a mystery, since the company that originally published it went belly-up, leaving owner-less games in its wake. More tweaking to the original story, and some minor tweaks to Epros' lines from the original dialogue.

As the group once more prepared to leave Ari's home, Ari noticed something in the tall grass. Heading towards it, he felt his heart pause for a moment when he recognized the mystery item as the music box. Slowly picking it up, he placed it in his seemingly bottomless pocket. If the others had noticed this, they didn't mention it.

"Alright," Rosalyn asked, pulling him from his thoughts, "So where are we going, Ari?"

"Triste," he replied automatically, "The village where all of the Nobodies go."

"There is a village specifically populated solely by that manner of anomalous being?" Kisling asked, clearly surprised and already coming up with scientific assessments, "Is it a compulsion that draws them there?"

"Yes, and kind of," Ari replied, "The Map and I know the way there and back, and if I were to guess, that would be where Beiloune would be hiding, and that was definitely the last place where Stan and I had seen the Phantom Evil King."

"Then that's where we're starting our search," Rosalyn stated determinedly, drawing her rapier as she prepared to charge, "For the Princess!"

"You don't know the way there," Ari remarked, halting Rosalyn before she could begin her race.

"Right," she said, sheathing her blade, "I'm just preparing to go back into battle. Lead the way."

With that done, the quietest member of the group once again consulted the Map O' Evil Kings.

'You know, we both know that you know that the Phantom Evil King is in Triste and the exact way there, but I do appreciate you asking me, since there's nothing for me to do,' the Map 'Well, go on. Go fight the floating guy.'

With that, Ari put the Map O' Evil Kings away and started leading the group towards Triste.

* * *

><p>When the band of 'deviants' arrived in the village of Triste, Ari was surprised to once again hear Julia's voice.<p>

"Ari, is that you?" her voice asked as the music box started playing its haunting melody.

"Julia?" he asked, walking away from his companions.

"Ari, where are you?" she asked as the music box began to float in the air.

"Julia, I can't see you," he said, trying to follow the sound of the voice to Julia.

"I can't see you either," she replied, "I used to be able to see through Her eyes, but I'm not getting anything at the moment."

"Where are you?" he asked, still unable to find her.

"I don't think we'll be seeing each other for a while," she commented as the music box shut and seemed to vanish, "Goodbye, Ari."

"Julia, wait," he called out in a slightly louder tone than the one he had started using.

"There you are, man!" Big Bull shouted, getting the russet-haired boy's attention as the group approached him once again, "You alright? You just took off and I couldn't even catch up with you."

"Everything's fine," Ari replied, "I thought I heard something over here, but nothing's here at the moment."

The conversation ended, the group began searching for the Phantom Evil King. After an hour or so of searching the small village, Stan broke the silence they had been searching in.

"It seems like the Phantom Evil King just left," Stan remarked as he rose out of Ari's shadow, "Clearly, he's to afraid to face my might!"

"More likely, he's too afraid to face your big head," Rosalyn corrected as they headed out of the village, "Your ego's big enough to smother the entire world."

"Wait," Stan said ending the argument as he looked around, "I feel something. I think it's an ambush."

"A blooming fight, a lovers' spat, we must battle, I shall tell where at," the Phantom Evil King said, materializing in front of the group, "Shadow Evil King, our act is nearly done. 'Twas the Gear Tower, foretold this battle would be won. The key to the secret is at the Deep Grave Pit. To war, to wit! To our melee, run!"

"You think you can replace Stan?" Rosalyn asked, surprised by his statement.

"Fortune may smile on I and thee. That I am not him and he is not me. Mark my defeat and perhaps the Great Evil King thou shalt see," the Phantom Evil King remarked before taking note of all of their expressions, "Ah, the intentions I see in thy eyes. Thou wishes to find it and beget its demise 'fore its great evil, the Great Evil King doth exercise! I tell you this that I may learn what needst I know. My purpose beyond mere vanity or show. . . Enough! Lest such dalliance Beiloune's notice invite. Fare thee well. Fare thee well 'til the time of our fight!"

"What are you trying to. . .?" Kisling began, only for the Phantom Evil King to disappear before their eyes as suddenly as he had appeared.

"So, we need to head to the Gear Tower," Rosalyn noted, clearly not pleased with the situation.

"I don't like this, Slave," Stan remarked, "It feels like we're being led, and if that's true, then we're playing right into his hands."

"I hate to say this, but I actually agree with Stan on this," Rosalyn interjected, "But despite my misgivings on this, do we really have much of a choice to do anything but go to the Gear Tower?"

"And that's the most irritating part of it," Stan said, "He seems to be holding all the cards in this matter, despite my power most likely being greater than his."

"Yeah, but he's like, sort of cool!" Linda exclaimed, "Who was he?"

"He's not cool!" Big Bull protested, "Cool is being powerful and smashing stuff! Being floaty isn't cool!"

"That's right, Bull," Stan agreed, "I'm the coolest one here! Good call!"

"Stan, didn't we just finish talking about how massive your ego is?"

"Be silent, woman!" Stan shouted, beginning the argument anew. Ignoring them, Ari once again drew the Map O' Evil Kings, glad to have something that kept proving useful for finding what he was looking for.


	25. Chapter 25

Okage Hearts

Chapter 25

I don't own Okage: Shadow King or Kingdom Hearts. By this point, that should really be obvious. Once again, quite a few liberties were taken with Epros' lines in order to have a better syllabic rhythm, or to replace parts that escape my memory due to not having played the game in some time. Also, of note, this chapter is actually a week early due to the fact that next week I will not be able to update everything on time if I went with my usual timetable for updates.

Ari was walking with the ragtag bunch of misfits that he could arguably call his friends. The Map O' Evil Kings had provided exact directions to where the Gear Tower could be found, and so they were headed out on their way to find the Phantom Evil King. To his irritation, Rosalyn and Stan would not stop arguing.

"We should charge in immediately, before he can set up whatever trap he's planning!" Stan argued, "If we wait to come up with a strategy, then he'll have had enough time to prep the trap. If he's as clever as he acts, then he's clearly going to have a plan of some sort, you foolish washbowl woman! It's what I would do."

"If we just charge in, then he's bound to have sprung his trap!" Rosalyn countered "Think about it, you stupid shadow! Why would he directly tell us where we're going to fight? If he wants us somewhere, he's going to have planned in advance already! You, yourself said that he clearly wants us to be here, so it stands to reason that he would have set things up in advance. That's what I would do."

"Both of you, get a room," Ari muttered flatly, "Or, even better, be quiet. We're here."

"Are you sure?" Linda asked, her back to the tall building with the gears around the top standing tall in front of the orange horizon.

"I am reasonably certain that he is correct," Kisling said, "This is an fantastic structure. Do you suppose that it served a purpose once? If it did, going by appearances, it would likely be safe to assume that the tower is in a state of disrepair."

"Aren't we wasting time discussing?" Big Bull interjected, clearly having sided with Stan in the argument, which had quieted down due Ari's remark surprising the pair.

"Kisling," Ari said, turning to face the scientist, "You're neutral to their fight. What would you recommend?"

"While both arguments have their merits, I must admit that, due to the fact that we are going into a trap at all, specifically, that a trap will likely be sprung no matter what the affair, then we would likely do well to follow Stan's paradigm, as, in the end, it is a trap we are walking into. The only thing we can safely rely on is getting in before he sets more traps."

"Alright, then," Ari said, "You heard him. We're going in. Get ready."

As things would have it, Ari had been correct to have drawn his weapon, as the Gear Tower was locked. As he used his weapon to unlock the door, he noted to himself that they had all completely forgotten that the Phantom Evil King had told them that they would need to go to the Deep Grave Pit to find 'the key to the secret.' Fortunately, Ari had the key that could undo any lock as his weapon.

With that, the group prepared for battle, Rosalyn drawing her sword, Linda her microphone, Big Bull stretching, and Kisling pulling out a book while Ari once again drew the Keyblade from wherever it was that the giant key went when he dismissed it.

Charging into the tower, Ari noted that the layout appeared to be a maze. Pulling out the Map O' Evil Kings, he opened it to see if the Map would be able to help them find their way through the tower to face their opponent.

'Well, if I were any other map, you'd be in for some unpleasant times,' the Map noted in what would have likely been a dry tone if it had a voice as Ari opened it to find that the Map was displaying the layout of the Gear Tower, 'As it stands, you're in luck, since I'm here specifically to find Evil Kings, Now, follow the exact path I tell you to go down.'

The hunt restarted, Ari began heading down the corridors that the Map O' Evil Kings told him to follow.

* * *

><p>When the group finally made their way to the entrance of the room the Phantom Evil King was in, Ari put away the Map and opened the door, revealing the Evil King standing surrounded by blue, green, yellow, and red Heartless that were floating with straw hats on their heads.<p>

"Ah, my brave foes, at last you arrived," the Phantom Evil King gloated, "Everything's happened as was contrived."

"I don't do things for other's plans!" Stan protested, "I came on my own to reclaim my power!"

"What is it that you are attempting to learn?" Kisling inquired, having not forgotten the last time they met.

"My own plans, I reveal not, lest they add to thy Confusion," the Phantom Evil King replied, "Corporeal strikes are futile. This form's but an Illusion. Now enter Stage, draw Steel, for this Battle nears conclusion!"

With that, the fight began, with Rosalyn leading the charge against the Heartless. Ari, meanwhile, once again moved to strike his opponent, only for the Keyblade to pass through him without causing any damage.

"A caveat, I gave to thee, yet my warning was ignored," the Phantom Evil King said, knocking Ari back with a burst of magic, "As such, I find this spar most dull, I fear I'm getting bored."

Mentally smacking himself for not paying attention to what the Phantom Evil King said, Ari began to send wave after wave of magic attacks, switching which ones he used in order to keep the Phantom Evil King off balance. Eventually, Ari once again emerged victorious as the Evil King staggered back after the final strike.

"Ugh, that rhyming is infuriating," the Phantom Evil King said, "Where did He learn that."

"Yes!" Stan cheered, "More of my power returns to me! Soon I will be invincible!"

"Yes!" the Former Phantom Evil King shouted, seeming to be talking to someone, "Now!"

"Did he just disappear?" Rosalyn asked incredulously, staring at the spot that their adversary had just occupied.

"Bah! Let him leave!" Stan shouted, "The powerful are supposed to laugh and gloat when they win, right Slave?"

"That was awesome, Stan, darling!" Linda shouted before adding, "but the Phantom Evil King's way of losing was totally cool, too!"

"What?" Stan shouted, clearly annoyed by that last statement.

"One Evil King left," Ari mused as they prepared to leave, "Then we deal with Beiloune."


	26. Chapter 26

Okage Hearts

Chapter 26

I don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. Anyone who says otherwise is either lying or mistaken.

Pulling out the Map once again, Ari attempted to find where the next Evil King was when it responded with something new.

'I genuinely can't directly locate the latest Evil King or say what its theme is, for some reason,' the Map said in what would probably have been a confused tone if the Map had a voice, 'Still, I can tell you that there's a teleporter in here that will lead you to the village that it's in.'

"The Map says that there's a teleporter nearby that will send us to the village that the next Evil King is in," Ari said, "Beiloune seems to be blocking the Map's ability to track them, so we're on our own once we get there."

"Let's go, then, Slave!" Stan commanded, rising out of Ari's shadow again, "Only one Evil King stands between me and my power!"

"More importantly," Rosalyn interjected, "He's the last Evil King before we need to fight Beiloune."

With that, the group headed off to the teleporter, readying themselves for the next battle.

* * *

><p>Once they arrived in the village, which was identified by a sign that read Highland Village, the Evil King, Hero, Scientist, Keyblade Wielder, and Former Evil Kings all paused at the sight that greeted them. The people seemed to be going about their days, all seeming to be perfectly content with their lives.<p>

"Slave?" Stan asked, looking around, "Are you sure that this is the place?"

"Everything looks okay to me," Linda remarked, looking around, "Nothing seems messed up."

"I have to question whether this is the proper location as well," Kisling noted, "There is no sign of trouble."

"I'm pretty sure," Ari said, pulling the map back out.

'This is the place,' the Map O' Evil Kings stated upon being opened, 'I cannot find the Evil King's exact location, but it is in this village.'

"The Map says they're here," Ari commented, "It doesn't know where, but it says that the next Evil King is here."

"Are you sure?" Big Bull asked, "I don't smell any heated combat in the air."

"Evil is present, that much I can tell," a familiar voice drawled, "A pity thou recognize not evil's smell."

"Phantom Evil King!" Rosalyn shouted, drawing her rapier.

"Prepare to die!" Stan added, not noticing that Ari wasn't moving against the odd man.

"To live or die, it simply matters not, if thou doth not listen when thou truly ought," the Phantom Evil King noted, "I wish to join forces to end Beiloune's scheme, for the end of the world is his insane dream. My ulterior goal is to learn the boy's power, as the source of that force makes the heartless god glower. It is clear that his hatred does stem from your key, yet I cannot decipher why that fact should be. The next contender for the title for Evil King's here. I cannot locate him, yet I know he is near. You are all mighty, and your powers have grown, yet I fear that to win, you should not be alone."

"So you wish to join our in our adventure," Kisling remarked, summarizing what was said.

"Alright," Stan said, "But you'll need to follow my commands, Phantom Evil King."

"My real name is Epros. I follow no one. I'll join in your quest until your quest is done," the Former Phantom Evil King stated.

"You're staying with us?" Linda asked excitedly, "Awesome! I'm Linda!"

"That name. I swear that thy name doth a bell ring. Yes, you're the Former Teen Idol Evil King," Epros stated.

"No way!" Linda protested, "Don't label me with such a dorky name! If you want to take me away from my Stan, then call me 'Linda' and give me a Cuddly and a Bubbly!"

"W-what?" Epros asked in shock, "I mean. . .Thy meaning, I fear, I simply cannot cipher. Plus you're too perky and overly hyper!"

"Well, good to see something knock him off-balance. . ." Ari muttered, getting a nod from Stan.

"Big Bull Evil King, Teen Idol Evil King, Phantom Evil King. . ." Rosalyn mused in frustration, "I'm surrounded by former Evil Kings!"

"Truly a fate worse than having one living in your shadow," Ari replied sarcastically.

"Don't we have an Evil King to fight?" Big Bull asked, clearly eager to start another battle.

"Indeed we do, my horned colleague," Kisling stated, "Perhaps we should begin our search of the village. Surely someone should have seen something."

With their new addition, the traveling group of oddities began to search the village for any sign of an Evil King. Despite their search, they weren't even able to find people who were willing to talk much.

* * *

><p>At dusk, they came across a villager moving at a sluggish pace, who Big Bull jogged up to and asked, "What's with you?"<p>

"I'm so depressed and I have no motivation to do anything," the guy said, "Recently,everyone in my family is like that, actually."

"You need to exercise!" Bull shouted cheerfully, "Why don't you fight with me, get some blood pumping?"

"This strange lack of bliss. Something is amiss," Epros mused, "Yet what could it be? I simply cannot see. . ."

"It does make me curious as well, my floating compatriot," Kisling commented, looking at the guy as though trying to find some sort of clue.

"It's getting close to nightfall," the weary guy stated, "You should all probably head inside. It's dangerous for anyone outside at night. That's why you aren't seeing that many people out right now."

"Maybe rest is a good idea," Linda stated, "I don't remember any of us getting any sleep since we got the band back together, and we didn't find anything important today. Why don't we check into a hotel and call it a night?"

"That's a good idea," Rosalyn said. Upon determining that they were all agreed, the group headed to the nearest hotel to rest before they began their search again.


	27. Chapter 27

Okage Hearts

Chapter 27

I still don't own either Okage or Kingdom Hearts. If you have heard otherwise, you have been deceived.

It was the middle of the night when Ari was woken from a peaceful dream of being rid of all of his problems.

"Ari,"Rosalyn said as she shook him awake, a lit candle on the nightstand by Ari's head, "Get up. I think we should go around at night to see if we can find the Evil King. The villagers said that it was dangerous at night, so it seems as good an idea as any."

"I admit, you actually have a valid point for once, woman," Stan said as he rose out from Ari's shadow and began shaking the boy. "Slave, get up! We need to get a move on before the sun rises!"

"Fine," Ari murmured, getting out of bed, "Let's go."

"I still can't believe you go to bed fully dressed," Rosalyn commented.

"Are we going or not?" Ari mumbled, wanting to get the matter out of the way as soon as possible.

"Yeah!" Big Bull cheered, "Let's get to the fighting already!"

"I think it would be best if you curbed your enthusiasm, my horned colleague," Kisling stated.

"Silence is golden, that's a fact, indeed," Epros stated, "In our chosen mission, stealth is what we need."

"Well, let's get going, then," Ari responded, drawing his Keyblade.

* * *

><p>As they wandered through the town, it quickly became apparent that every last building was sealed shut, as if no one dared to venture out their doors.<p>

"Was that stairway always there?" Linda inquired, pointing at a dark stairwell that went downward into the dark.

"I don't think so," Stan commented, his presence being sustained by the moonlight and some torches nearby, "It must have shown up when the sun went down. I think we should go down there."

"I don't like this," Rosalyn said, grabbing a torch as they began their descent, "It feels like a trap."

In response to Rosalyn's statement, a voice from the end of the stairs said, "Indeed. Night provides the means for a clever ambush, but as I am an evil king of honor, I would not surprise you as such."

"A revelation," Epros mused, "Your appellation?"

"I am the Vampire Evil King," the voice said as they entered an area that glowed green, revealing a man who seemed to either have no lips or had his lips eternally forced, "A title I self-contemptuously place upon myself. I suspect that no other title would fit one who gains power in the manner that I gain mine."

"Blood in sleep," Epros murmured, "Flows so sweet."

"What do you mean?" Rosalyn inquired.

"This village is his feeding ground," Kisling said, piecing the situation together, "The fatigue of the villagers, the title he gave himself. The facts add together to form a cohesive explanation."

"You are correct," the Vampire Evil King acknowledged as black-coated, ghost-like Heartless began to materialize around him, one eye hanging out as they moved to attack, "The townspeople are classified as little more than cattle for me to feed upon, continuing my disgusting existence. Such is how I gain my power. And now, 'party that threatens the classified world while headed by a fearful boy,' it is time for me to defeat you, so that I may drink your blood and become the ultimate Evil King."

"You cannot defeat me!" Stan shouted proudly, "I, Evil King Stan, will take your power for my own and become the ultimate Evil King! Slave! Crush this weakling!"

Before the fight could commence, Epros stated, "Be warned, be warned! He has strong magic. A clever means to devise, as defeat would be tragic. The penalty's fatal for direct hits received. Alas, we'd be goners without time to grieve."

With that, the battle commenced. As Ari's companions began fighting off the Heartless, Ari dodged a blast of ice from the Vampire Evil King, causing a nearby Heartless to be frozen solid before falling to the ground and shattering.

"Perhaps you should use the defense spell I gave you," Stan said as Ari leapt out of the way of a powerful blast of flame.

Ari, silently agreeing with Stan, quickly put up the shield spell after he had once again leapt out of the path of the Vampire Evil King's blast of ice.

Quickly moving, Ari sent a blast of fire, which seemed to hurt his opponent. Another blast of fire from the Vampire Evil King was countered by one blast of Ice to neutralize the attack and one to strike again, causing the Vampire Evil King to waver yet again. The battle continued in this manner until the Vampire Evil King finally collapsed, the remainder of the Heartless under his command vanishing as Stan regained more power. Instead of transforming into his true form, however, Stan remained in Ari's shadow, clearly irritated.

"What is this?" he demanded, "Is there another fake Evil King to fight?"

"This is disappointing," Rosalyn remarked, "How can I kill you if you're still just a shadow?"

"I should be in my true form, not still this flimsy shadow!" Stan roared.

"Hm. . ." Kisling contemplated, "I sense that there are two possibilities: First, it could be that there are more Evil Kings, but I doubt that, as, while the power of an Evil King is apparently transferable to an extent, it is unlikely that there could possibly be that much dispersed. The second hypothesis to go by is. . ."

"I took some of the power from the Vampire Evil King before he fell," Beiloune said, seeming to be faded as he appeared before the group.

"Exactly that," Kisling concluded.

"The only way that you will regain your full power and your body is if you defeat me!" Beiloune continued, "Only then will you become the true Evil King. And you, Hero Rosalyn, the only way for you to become the Great Hero is to defeat me, as well. If you do not, I will continue to create Evil Kings until one of them finally destroys you. As for you, boy. . . You seem determined to be there for the battle against me as well, so you, too, shall have a chance, soon enough. If you wish to defeat me, you must find me in the World Library. I look forward to your defeat."

With that said, the madman once more vanished without a trace, leaving the group to seek the path to their final battle.


	28. Chapter 28

Okage Hearts

Chapter 28

I don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. Anything that says otherwise is either misinformed or blatantly lying. Of note, there are only one or two chapters left for this story after this one.

The group stood silently after Beiloune left the room, each attempting to determine just what their next course would be. After a moment, it was Ari that broke the silence.

"Epros," he said, "You mentioned Beiloune's plan, back when you were the Phantom Evil King. Do you know where the World Library is?"

"I once had that knowledge so surely I ought," Epros replied, "Yet though I seek out the memory, I simply cannot. I suspect Beiloune took it to help hide his plot."

"Well, that seems problematic," Kisling chimed in, "If we are to confront him in order to preserve the world as it is, then we need to be able to locate the World Library he has repeatedly informed us of."

"I know how to get you there," a weakened, familiar voice said. Turning, the group saw the Vampire Evil King, standing nearby, seeming to want to rest.

"You want to help us fight Beiloune?" Rosalyn inquired incredulously.

"I do not wish to fight Beiloune," The Former Vampire Evil King said, "Even if I did, I was not invited, so I could not go. Nevertheless, I can help you find the World Library. You need to get a permit, then a bridge will arrive. If you wish, I will bring the bridge. I won't face repercussions, correct. He did invite you."

"Why are you so pathetic now that you've lost your power?" Stan asked, "You're worse than the Chairman Evil King."

"Who?" he inquired before waving the though away, "Never mind. My reasons are simple, though I often curse my own wretched existence, I am rather fond of it, and would much prefer to not cease to exist. Now, I need to go get the bridge."

* * *

><p>After taking a long walk to get across the impossibly long bridge once it was in place, the group found themselves standing on a land that seemed to be made of twisted branches and stones, which formed odd bridge-like structures that covered the landscape.<p>

"Of course," Ari muttered under his breath before a thought struck him. Beiloune had the last of Stan's power, so the Map O' Evil Kings would likely be able to find him. At the very least, it was worth a try.

'You are very lucky he's not hiding himself,' the Map noted in its strangely dry tone as it displayed their surroundings, "Still, what works works, I suppose. Just go down the path I marked off and you'll be right outside of the World Library."

"The Map says to go this way," Ari said in the slightly louder tone he'd become accustomed to using since he got his heart back, "So, let's go."

With that, the group once more headed out, intent on finding Beiloune and bringing an end to his scheme.

Once they reached a large, square building, Epros said, "In Beiloune's domain, we've much less to fear. He'll be wary lest he harm something truly dear."

"He's evil for a human," Stan said, "But I'll punish him all the same. He'll see what real power is!"

"And he'll face justice!" Rosalyn interjected. With that, she began to charge at the doors, only to find them locked. Without a word, Ari pointed the Keyblade at the door and unlocked it. As they headed inside, they found themselves in a bizarre landscape. It looked like a room made entirely of darkness, with only a dull green glow in the stones giving off any light.

Moving forward, our heroes found themselves face to face with a distinguished looking old man who said, "Ah, you're the reason Beiloune is so angry. Welcome to the World Library, the core of the world!"

"You're a human!" Big Bull said, stating the obvious, "You can't fight."

"You're most certainly right," the old man said, his arms behind his back as he smiled at the group, "And you're our only hope. We are simple clerks in this library. We only record the Classification."

"And Beiloune's list of classification is here?" Kisling asked.

"Yes," the old man replied, "Now listen carefully: There are three buildings, the center, and the west and east wings. Some doors require a key, but I suspect you don't need to find them. Don't rush, though. He's not going anywhere. Good luck."

Once it was apparent that the old man was not going to talk any further, Ari and company continued their quest.

"We're going to wind up fighting a lot of ghosts and Heartless, aren't we?" Ari mused aloud.

"Almost certainly, Slave," Stan said, "They should be the perfect warm-up for when we face off against that irritating human."

"I don't think it can be helped," Linda added, "He wants us to lose, which means he'll send a lot of those things."

"Well, then, shall we?" Ari sighed, pulling out the Map. Somehow, he knew that this was going to be more unpleasant than the rest of his adventures.

* * *

><p>It had taken almost an hour for them to find it, with several locked doors opened and countless enemies defeated, but eventually, they found their way through that maze of a library with help from the Map O' Evil Kings and managed to get to Beiloune's private study.<p>

"It's the moment we've been waiting for," Stan said, "It's time to defeat Beiloune in the name of the Great Evil King. You all know what to do!"

"Yeah, let's go get him!" Linda cheered, followed by an enthusiastic agreement by Big Bull.

"What are you going on about?" Rosalyn asked, "We're here to defeat his corrupt system in the name of justice! I know he's tougher than the Evil Kings we've fought, so stay on your guard everyone, and give it everything you've got!"

"I'm here to seek intelligence," Kisling said, "With luck, I will manage to find some by the end of things."

"To each champion, their raison d'etre! Who is to say who is right?" Epros stated, "For evil, for justice, for science, you enter, only you know the reason you fight. Forward my comrades and we shall advance with variant motives in sight. I will learn what I seek, and to victory we shall, in our great teamwork, unite."

"I guess it's time to meet our maker," Ari said, preparing to unlock the door that would lead to their greatest battle.


	29. Chapter 29

Okage Hearts

Chapter 29

I don't own Okage: Shadow King or Kingdom Hearts. Anyone who says otherwise is spreading inaccurate information. Also, the next chapter will be the finale of this story.

Aiming the Keyblade to unlock the door, Ari was surprised when his trusty weapon refused to fire the beam of light that usually unlocked whatever it was pointed at. Trying two more times, he tried to come up with a logical reason for why it wouldn't open.

"He's reclassified the lock," he muttered, trying to think about what they could do to get through.

"Curse that Beiloune," Stan glared, "he talked a big game, but he's hiding from us like a weakling."

"Let me at it!" Big Bull shouted, "I'll knock it right out of its frame!"

"I do not believe that is a good plan, my brawny friend," Kisling said, "This object, though its lock is reclassified, is in fact a door, which is a specific object. Perhaps we should regard the matter as if it were an ordinary door, as a door is meant to be treated as a door. Don't you think?"

"Thinking about it takes too long," Linda argued, "Let's just kill it and be done with it."

"Quiet!" Stan called out, "I suppose it has been some time since I called him in for anything. Yes, that could do quite nicely."

"If you're thinking of who I think you're thinking, you might be onto something, there," Rosalyn said, tapping her chin thoughtfully, "Wow, never thought I'd say that to you."

"James!" Stan called out, "I need you to come here now!"

"Who is this James?" Epros interjected, "I know him not by name."

"Stan's butler," Ari replied quietly just as said ghost rolled towards the door on his side, picking himself up before he hit it, "Him."

"Ah, you called me, Master," James said cheerfully, "It's been some time. What is the matter? Don't tell me this door is blocking your way."

"Skip the chattering, James," Stan commanded, "Do something, already."

"Don't fret, Your Majesty," James laughed, "This is a war against classification, isn't it? So you shouldn't let how a thing is 'classified' stop you. In fact, your own hypothesis is faulty, though part of your premise works. You thought to ignore the classification of the lock, but you were stuck on the idea of 'this is a door.' Just forget this is a door to open, and the only thing to do is. . . Everyone stand back."

At those words, everyone stepped aside as James backed up before charging at the door. Just before he slammed into the door, he paused, raising his hand to attack as he shouted, "Nonsense Butler Chop!"

With that, the door gave way, opening as James turned to face the group and said, "Well, there you go. Go in if you want. Adieu."

With that, he walked off, fading from sight as he did so. After a moment of silence from the group as they tried to process what had just happened, Linda said, "He just broke the door. That was awesome!"

"Indeed, it was thrilling," Epros interjected slowly, "Shall we press on to the killing?"

At that, the group once more returned to their senses, heading into the doorway to face Beiloune.

* * *

><p>"We found you at last!" Stan shouted, "I've already bested your Vampire Evil King!"<p>

"Your 'classification' is fouler than any evil that Evil Kings have created!" Rosalyn appended, "I'm going to put a stop to it!"

"Ah, you've finally arrived," Beiloune said, "I've been waiting. You've been causing me quite a bit of frustration."

"And we plan to do more!" Stan agreed.

"Not only do I not need Ari, but I do not need any of you in my perfect world," he added.

"Thanks," Ari muttered sarcastically.

"The reincarnation of Gohma and Rosalyn have gained to much power in their travels," Beiloune pressed on, seeming to not notice them, "So fortunate that you came with one another. Here, where you can be removed without anyone watching."

"Thy meaning?" Epros said, refraining from rhyming, to Ari's surprise, "Speak plainly."

"Evenly matched, you shall both die one each other's sword," Beiloune said, "You wanted the power of the Great Hero and Great Evil King? Take them!"

With that, a dark smoke-like substance flew forward, knocking Ari down as he felt his shadow get pulled away from him. At the same time, a brilliant light struck Rosalyn, covering her in a bright glow.

Once the light and smoke cleared, it revealed Rosalyn standing across from a blond man with pointed ears, dark eyes and sharp teeth.

"I've regained my original body," he said, his voice instantly recognizable, "I am the Great Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad the XIV!"

At the same time, Rosalyn raised her rapier and called out, "The spirit of justice fills me! I am the Great Hero Rosalyn, Champion of Justice!"

"Fight, Justice and Evil," Beiloune called out as the ground separated the pair from the rest of the group, "Fight for the fate of the world!"

As the rest of the group stood there, only able to watch as Stan and Rosalyn attempted to kill one another, each blow an explosion, each slash lightning.

"What is wrong with them?" Kisling asked in shock, "We need to fight Beiloune, not each other!"

"Curses! Beiloune, thou must make this end!" Epros shouted, "You've altered the world on your whims once again!"

"Excellent," Beiloune smiled, "No one can stop them. They'll destroy each other."

"Ari, the end falls to you," Epros said in frustration, turning to face Ari, "Devise a way to stop those two."

"Um. . . I'm not sure if this is the right time but. . ." Linda began.

"What?" Ari asked, "Is is something we could use?"

"You're pocket's glowing," she answered plainly. Looking down to his side, Ari saw that Linda was right. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a strange object that he hadn't put in there.

"I guess this is what all the gears and things were for," Ari mused, moving it around in his hands, "It looks like some sort of recorder. . ."

Right as he said that, his fingers accidentally brushed a button, inadvertently pushing it down. Suddenly, it rose out of his hand and began to play what it had recorded.

_'I don't care about classification,' Rosalyn's voice stated, causing the real Rosalyn to pause, 'I'm a Hero no matter what, though I wonder where the real Princess Marlene is. . .'_

_ 'I'm going to best that fake Evil King, then I will defeat you, woman!' Stan's voice responded, stilling the Evil King, 'My Evil transcends any classifications!'_

"Wow, that's pretty convenient," Linda commented, "I mean, what are the odds that it only got that conversation?"

_'It's the moment we've been waiting for,' Stan's voice rallied as the recorder skipped to another point, 'It's time to defeat Beiloune in the name of the Great Evil King. You all know what to do!'_

_'Yeah, let's go get him!' Linda's voice cheered, followed by an enthusiastic agreement by Big Bull's voice._

_'What are you going on about?' Rosalyn's voice asked, 'We're here to defeat his corrupt system in the name of justice! I know he's tougher than the Evil Kings we've fought, so stay on your guard everyone, and give it everything you've got!'_

"That's right," Stan said, pausing as he stood face to face with Rosalyn, "That was what we're here for. Why am I wasting my time fighting a hero who's only weapon is her big mouth?"

"There's no point to fighting an Evil King as scatter-brained as this one," Rosalyn remarked, throwing back an insult of her own.

Turning to face their real enemy, the pair spoke in unison as they said, "We have a greater enemy to fight."

As they said this, the ground once again pulled itself together, allowing Ari and the rest of the group to join Rosalyn and Stan.

"How is this possible?" Beiloune shouted indignantly, "I brought the entire power of classification to bear upon you! I made that device as a simple toy to find my daughter! Ari, why are you and that infernal key. . . ?"

"We can't explain it, but we don't want to, anyway," Rosalyn said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Ari led us through all of this, and he showed us who he is. You call yourself smart, so you should know what he has in him. The Keyblade chose well."

"Beiloune," Stan stated imperiously, "I admit I don't know what you think, but I don't act this way because you made me do it! I am me! I do what I want, and there's nothing you can do about that!"

"NO!" Beiloune protested, seeming to be losing his mind, "I must keep this world intact until she comes back! As long as this world exists, my daughter and I will have eternity! Marlene will come back and spend her time enjoying forever! This is my daughter's country, her playground! I will not let her sanctuary be broken by mere _**PROPS**_!"

"How dare you!" Rosalyn shouted on Ari's right as Stan growled on Ari's left. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, a bright light seemed to consume Beiloune, changing his shape from a thin, mustached man to a giant blue and white monster with horns, red eyes, claws, and darkness pooling at his feet.

"Now, with this power, my final power, I will erase you all from the world," Beiloune said, his voice replaced with a deep rumbling growl, "Then, I will recreate the stage! But I won't let you destroy the frame of the world, my 'Great Illusion.'"

"Ari," Stan said, causing the boy to turn away from their enemy, "We'll be more powerful if I can link to your shadow."

"Then, let's go," Ari said, turning to let Stan into his shadow. Once he felt the now-familiar presence linked to his shadow, he led the charge to face Beiloune.

Beiloune began the battle, lunging for Ari, who quickly rolled out of his path as Rosalyn struck quickly with several slashes from her rapier. Once his attention was diverted to her, Big Bull quickly struck from behind with all his might, staggering the giant. As he tried to regain balance, he was struck in the eyes by Linda swinging her microphone. Her attack was quickly aided by several cards being launched by Epros, followed by an incantation by Kisling, which caused a flash of magic to strike.

Following this, Ari quickly sent out a blast of fire, followed by ice. Once Beiloune paused, seeming stunned, he quickly cast Air on himself and his friends, setting them to be defended from any sudden attacks. It was very fortunate that he did this, as the second he regained his bearings, the mad god cast a powerful burst of energy that burned the stone ground around the group to a charred black state. As he prepared for another strike, Ari quickly charged, striking him with the Keyblade before rolling out of his reach, firing spells as he moved around the giant figure before him. As he did this, Stan attacked with shadows, striking Beiloune's eyes and arms. At the same time, Rosalyn used her parasol and rapier to slash at his legs and blast his torso with some fire spells. Beiloune attempted to dodge, only to be blindsided by Big Bull flanking him from the right as Kisling cast spells to his left. Then, a few blasts of magic from Linda coming from behind him, followed by her throwing her microphone around his neck with a cord that seemed to appear out of nowhere and pulling to drag him down, threw him further off balance, allowing Epros to knock him over with a few spells as Stan withdrew the shadows.

Once the giant, monstrous form fell, Beiloune regained his thin, human appearance, lying on the ground broken and defeated.

"If you want to kill me, then do so," he said miserably, "It's. . . Nothing matters now. It's broken."

"I've wanted to see you like this for some time," Stan mused, "But I am feeling merciful. Killing you would take too much work. You're free to go. Leave."

"Erasing the classification system," Beiloune remarked softly, lifting himself from the floor, "Isn't this what you wanted? I am leaving for the vast open world to find my daughter. She won't be able to find me in this vast spread out world, and time is now finite, but I will find her, not a doll. A true. . ."

As he muttered to himself, he vanished from sight, leaving a large chest behind as he did so. Pointing the Keyblade at the box, Ari unlocked it, causing several glowing lights shaped like hearts to fly out of the chest, seeming to shine like stars as they zoomed out, presumably to return to their owners.

It was moments later that the World Library began to shake, as if it were falling apart. Racing out of the building, which seemed to have already been abandoned, they barely made it off in time to make it to the main body of the island. All that was left was to return to their homes.


	30. Chapter 30

Okage Hearts

Chapter 30

I don't own Okage or Kingdom Hearts. Anyone who says otherwise is wrong. Stay tuned past the final Author's Note at the end of this Chapter for the finale.

Ari and his companions had made their way back to the mainland, and kept walking until they arrived on a familiar shore, which was being illuminated by the light of the setting sun. None of them spoke a word, seeming unsure of what to say after the ordeal they'd been through. Even Stan, who had assumed his true form once they'd gotten off of that island was speechless from what they'd all experienced. As could have been expected of the situation, it was Rosalyn who managed to find her voice first.

"So, the world's supposed to have changed somehow?" she inquired, turning towards the group, "Then why does it feel like nothing's changed at all?"

"Well, should the matter be expressed in words, I suppose that the best method to describe the change is in the cognizance of the citizens has been affected, rather than the actual world, itself," Kisling interjected, "We are no longer constrained by the Classification that kept everyone assigned specific roles. No longer are we 'props,' to use Beiloune's terms. We are now free to pursue any endeavor that we desire. Even though Classification is gone, for example, I intend on continuing researching things in the name of science!"

"It doesn't matter to me," Stan said, crossing his arms, "I am the Evil King, so why should it matter to me if Classification was erased forever. All that matters is that I'm free to find true evil once again."

"You are stupendous, Sire!" James shouted, racing towards the group, "I will follow you to the ends of the world!"

"Ah, there you are, James," Stan remarked, "Where were you earlier and what were you doing?"

"I was watching from the background," James said automatically, though Ari suspected that the ghost was lying, "I didn't see a reason to interfere when the Master had a handle on things."

"Alright, then," Stan shrugged, apparently trusting the butler at his word, "Well, Ari, I think we can wrap things up, now. It's been fun. Next time you hear my name, it will be with people telling of how I rule the world! If you visit me, it'll probably be a lot of fun. So long!"

With that, he and James walked off before Ari could speak, seeming content with their current situation.

"That was cold-hearted!" Rosalyn exclaimed, "He ran off before we could have our final fight! Wait. . ."

She looked down, parasol still in hand as she registered what happened. Once she had a firm grasp of the obvious, she shouted, "He didn't fix my shadow! We had a deal! And, of course, it's my duty as a Hero to not leave an Evil King who's seeking ways to be evil alone! Yeah, that's what I'm mostly thinking about, nothing else. Now, to catch Stan and get my old life back! Gotta go! See you later, Ari!"

With that, she raced off in the same direction Stan and James had left from just before Ari could give a response.

"And what do you all plan to do with yourselves," Ari asked the remaining group as they watched them race off, one in hot pursuit of the others.

"So wonder I if World's answers lie hidden in magical power," Epros replied, "Rest never I, the answers nigh, so off to the Gear Tower."

"Wait for me, Epros!" Linda shouted, latching onto his arm, "You promised Linda a Cuddly and a Bubbly, after all."

"What?!" Epros exclaimed in surprise and mortification, much to Ari's amusement, "I never. . . I mean. . ."

"Don't worry about it," Linda said, preventing him from making a rhyme, "Let's go! Later, Ari!"

"Take care," Ari replied, waving the pair off.

"I suppose I'll be going back to being a respected and acclaimed scientist,"Kisling mused, "I likely have enough information by now to write several papers, but that will not stop me from continuing my research! I will continue observing the bizarre, the fantastic, and all things in between! Considering that you still possess the Keyblade, we will almost certainly be meeting again, my young comrade. Fare thee well in this bold new world of undiscovered possibilities!"

At that, the scientist made his exit, muttering facts and figures to himself as he became lost in his musings.

"I have a vision I'm going to follow, too," Big Bull said earnestly, "I call it 'The Ox Hole.' I'm going to make a training center for macho men everywhere! I'll have a macho army ready for our next spar. Feel free to visit whenever."

With those words, Big Bull raced off, intent on making his vision a reality.

Once all of his companions were gone, Ari stood at the shore's edge for a while longer, looking into the sea as he thought of everything that had happened to him. He'd changed in his adventures, and he thought that it might have been for the better. He had gained confidence, made more friends than he'd ever had, and had led a successful crusade to make the world free of constraints that no one had even been aware of. Nevertheless, he couldn't help but feel that the victory was a bit hollow. Here he was, alone on a shore, and he couldn't find Her. He knew that he would be able to find his friends if he ever needed to, but She was still missing. Making up his mind to begin searching for her starting the next day, he headed homeward as the sun vanished behind the horizon.

As he continued down his path, he idly noted upon the Moonflowers growing along the path before a thought struck him, one which made too much sense for it to be chance, especially given Beiloune's words.

* * *

><p>Elsewhere, in a village that once did and didn't exist at the same time, one wouldn't be laughed at for assuming that this strange village was being bombarded by all the stars in the sky, as that was the best way that one could describe the appearance of the village. Nevertheless, were one to be inside of the village, they would see the 'stars' fly towards the dull, almost colorless denizens of this village, who seemed to gain life and color to their features upon being struck. One by one, they all began to head towards a girl with a hat that had a purple ribbon and flower attached.<p>

"Is this really happening, K.T.?" one asked, "Are we really free?"

"We're no longer bound to Triste," the girl said to the crowd, "You can all leave this place if you wish."

With that, she walked away as the gate to the village opened, allowing the people who'd been trapped for so long to leave. Despite her newfound freedom, however, K.T. was heading in another direction. Heading through the village, she stopped at the door of a small dilapidated house, and knocked twice. When the door opened, revealing the inhabitant, she asked, "Do you know where you're going to go?"

"Home," they responded, "I'm going home."

"I wish you luck," K.T. said, "And, please, give him our thanks."

"I will," she agreed, shaking the former Gatekeeper's hand before she headed on her way.

* * *

><p>The next day, the sun rose over a brand new day. Things were different, yet, no matter how different they were, they almost seemed the same. People continued about their lives, yet now they did it by choice, rather than due to a compulsion to follow an assigned role. It was during this new morning that Ari found himself at the crossroad where it could be argued that led to his new situation. This was, after all, the crossroad that led him to the Circus, where he'd gotten the Keyblade in the first place.<p>

Ari was torn from his musings when he saw two boys standing nearby, seeming to be talking about something.

"But, now they've got some giant talking rat, a magician, and a singer," one boy said to the other.

"Ari?" the other boy asked, having spotted the Keyblade wielder, "Is that really you? You haven't been around the village in a long time. You actually got here just in time. the annual village festival is up. Why don't you go see if they need any help?"

"Why not?" he shrugged as he dismissed the Keyblade, surprising the pair with his louder voice. With that, he headed off towards the Town Hall, where he suspected his father would be. As he headed that way, he was stopped by the scared man that kept panicking about every little thing.

"Ari, it's terrible!" the man shouted, "Do you know what's happened? A new world's been discovered at the edge of this one! With so much world, there's bound to be a bunch of dangerous things out there. Makes me shiver."

Once it was clear that the scared man was not going to say anything further, Ari took his leave of him, heading towards the Town Hall. When he got to the door, he was surprised to see his father was already out there, apparently supervising as people moved different items into specific spots. Upon catching glimpse of Ari, however, his father stopped what he was doing and said, "Ari! It's good to see you son, but something tells me this isn't a simple visit. I'd love to hear all about your adventures, but it's going to have to wait until I get home. We're completely swamped with this festival."

Ari simply nodded his head in response, deciding that he might as well head home and let the rest of the family know he arrived.

* * *

><p>When he arrived at the gate to the residence, he was not particularly surprised to see Annie outside, clearly about to leave.<p>

"Ari, you're back!" she smiled, "You have no idea how bored I was listening to dad's crazy theories while you were gone."

"Yes, I'm sure that I don't have any idea how dull they can be," he replied dryly, causing her to pause, almost as if to determine whether she'd actually heard him or not.

"Anyway," she pressed on, "There was a girl here looking for you. She even asked if this was where you lived, so I led her to the house. She was kind of cute, you lady-killer. Well, got to go. Festival only comes once a year and I can't miss a chance to test my feminine wiles, can I?"

She looked up, only to see that he was already gone.

Ari was racing towards the house, intent on seeing if he was right about who he believed the guest was. Upon getting there, he was stunned by the sight in front of him. A vision with a white dress, blond hair, and blue eyes greeted him. After a moment of silence, his mother, who he hadn't even noticed smiled and said, "Ari, your timing couldn't be more perfect. You have a guest. I'm so proud of you, finding a pretty girl on your adventures. Why don't I give you two some privacy?"

Once Ari's mother had entered the house, Ari walked up to the girl and smiled as he said, "I'm so happy to see you, Julia. Or should I say 'Your Highness,' Princess Marlene? That is your real name, isn't it?"

"Figured it out, did you?" she asked, a delicate smile on her face, "What gave it away?"

"The only person who remembered you was me," he began, "Not even the Innkeeper, the person who I remembered being your father noticed. Then, Beiloune said that the other one had a similar heart to you, but couldn't be you. At the same time, there were so many things that you had in common that made me comfortable around her that it couldn't be a coincidence. Once I had the time to think about it, that was the only thing that made sense. Why did you do it, though?"

"I didn't want to be the Princess, anymore," she answered, "I wanted to live a simple life, instead of spending my time in a tower waiting for Heroes and Evil Kings to fight. My father and I didn't agree, so I ran away. I used my power to hide myself, and invented an entire back-story under a new name to make things easier. Then, I met you, and you know the rest. Is my father. . .?"

"He vanished," Ari replied, "He said he was going to look for you, even though Classification was done with, and walked away before disappearing."

"I hope he gets better by the time we meet again," she said, "From what I could tell, he wasn't in his right mind."

The pair stood there in silence for a few moments before Ari asked, "What now, Marlene?"

"First, you go back to calling me 'Julia,'" she laughed, taking his hand in hers, "I like that name better, even if I can't Classify myself as 'the Innkeeper's Daughter,' anymore. After that, who knows? There's an entire world of possibilities out there. As long as we're together, everything should be fine."

With that, the pair headed inside, each content with having the other with them, no matter what else life could throw at them. They were together, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p><span><strong>Thank you all for reading this story from beginning to end, and thank you to those who reviewed, favorited, andor set the alert for this story. It's hard to believe it's already been over two years since it began, yet, here we are. I know that the update time was pretty slow, so thank you all for sticking with the story for this long. We had a good run, but it's finally over. And now, just to make the ending match the game, I present the finale. . .**

* * *

><p>Once Ari and Julia entered the house, closing the door behind them, a familiar shadow made his appearance just outside.<p>

"Heh, heh, heh," Stan laughed, "Abusing my slave is more amusing than any other task! I wonder what sort of calamity I'll have him go through next. . . Thinking about what to do to mess with him is almost as fun as actually doing it. Ha ha ha ha ha!"


End file.
